Joyce Banda
Joyce Banda
Joyce Hilda Bandais a Malawian politician who was the President of Malawi from 7 April 2012 to 31 May 2014. She is the founder and leader of the People's Party, created in 2011...
ProfessionWorld Leader
Date of Birth12 April 1950
convinced country women
I convinced myself economic empowerment of women was going to be key, especially in a country like this where most women didn't go to school.
ability achieve confronted distilled doubted dreams people soul throughout
Throughout my career, I have been confronted with people who have doubted my ability to achieve the dreams and ambitions distilled into my soul by my father.
indeed women
I'm indeed a mandasi seller, and I'm proud of it, because the majority of women in Malawi are like us, mandasi sellers.
shall
I shall always be proud of what I've done, regardless of what you journalists or anybody can say.
business running
I prospered very quickly. Very quickly, I became politically empowered. I was running my own business.
dire inspired women work
I am tremendously inspired by many women around the world who work under dire circumstances to make a difference for their families.
people sit traders
You can still sit under the tree where Dr. Livingstone negotiated with slave traders to set people free.
follow forever thankful
I will forever be thankful to the Malawians and international community, and my professional army and army general, who said: 'No, we will follow the constitution.' That's why I'm here.
assist business education life mission political social women
My mission in life is to assist women in social and political empowerment through business and education.
ahead common falling good leadership learned love people personal serving
I learned that leadership is about falling in love with the people and the people falling in love with you. It is about serving the people with selflessness, with sacrifice, and with the need to put the common good ahead of personal interests.
african brought carries carry fear heavy loads move push skin thick
It's heavy, but I am able to carry it. Why? Because I'm an African woman. An African woman carries heavy loads anyway. That's how we are trained; we are brought up that nothing is unbearable. I use that now, positively. I use that now to have the thick skin that I have, and not fear, and move forward, and push; and push forward.
decided dependence develop mining telling total
We have decided to diversify agriculture; we decided to develop our tourism sector. We have decided to develop our mining sector. So these are some of the things we're telling Malawians: we say this is what we need to do in order for us to get out of this total dependence on aid.
african coming summit union
I want you to know that I don't have any right, Malawi has no right to stop any president from coming to an African Union summit because that is an African Union meeting.
austerity devalue fact huge means poor rural
But the fact that we had to devalue by 40% at once means that Malawians are feeling the shock, the impact of that huge devaluation and particularly rural people, the poor are the ones that are going to be most affected. That is why there is the austerity plan.