Joyce Banda says Rose Chibambo was her ‘role model’: Pays tribute to heroine

Malawi first female president Joyce Banda has paid tribute to heroine and first female cabinet minister, Rose Chibambo, saying she was her ‘role model’.

Banda with Rose Chibambo
Banda with Rose Chibambo

Chibambo died this week in Blantyre and will be buried on Saturday.

In a statement, Banda said she has learnt with “shock” the death of Chibambo.

“As far as I am concerned she was a ‘Heroine’.  She was my ‘Role Model’ since I was very young,” said Banda.

She stated: “Rose Chibambo was one of four women who were arrested, tried, sentenced and sent to prison in the 1960s.  Her crime was the fight against the minority White rule and colonialism.

“In 2009, the late President Bingu wa Mutharika charged me with the responsibility of liaising with Mrs. Chibambo when he wanted to name a road in her honor in Mzuzu.  After the afternoon event at the road site, there was a celebration dinner at Mzuzu Hotel where I was present and spoke on behalf of our late President.

“This event provided me with a rare opportunity to chat with her and learn more from her about her political life.   She told me that when she went to prison, she was breastfeeding.   Being a mother myself, It was difficult for me to comprehend how she could give up so much for our sake,” said Banda.

Banda recalls that when the country got independence from Britain in 1964, Chibambo became the first Deputy Minister in Malawi.

“ As my role model, I used to stand outside Parliament in Zomba just to watch Rose Chibambo enter Parliament,” she said.

“A few months after her appointment and following the infamous 1964 cabinet crisis she and her husband had to leave Malawi to go and live in Zambia.  Unfortunately her children had to remain behind.  Most tragic was the death of her husband a few years later in Zambia,” recalls Banda.

“I have lived to admire the courage of Mrs. Rose Chibambo.  Her faith, her capacity to love and her ability to forgive have inspired me.  She was a woman who sacrificed so much for Malawi’s freedom,” said Banda.

The former president described Chibambo as  “extraordinary woman” and appealed to Malawians to also celebrate her life.

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evance kossam
evance kossam
8 years ago

na kuzangomanga JB ndth u smukalowa ku heaven coz inuo palibe mukuchta bola mama aja

foster
foster
8 years ago

zokoma ife tikamalowerera zandale. komanso timamva bwanji tikamatukwana pa line ngati apa. tiphunzire ulemu abale ndi kupewa mau onyazitsa. nthawi zina zimangoonetsa komwe takulira ndi banja lomwe takulira

HASTINGS
HASTINGS
8 years ago

Joyce was good than this gentleman.

Chilungamo Chimawawa
Chilungamo Chimawawa
8 years ago

You Lomwes you sniffing blood of JB, so you can devour her. why insisting that she comes back. You idiots!!!!

Chilungamo Chimawawa
Chilungamo Chimawawa
8 years ago

you are calling for JB to come home so you can kill her. stop this nonse you idiots!

mtumbuka
mtumbuka
8 years ago

Amai bwanji m’bwele kuti mzawasanzi amalemuwa as your role model please.

Guantanamo
Guantanamo
8 years ago

We can make good comments without using HATE language. If JB has committed any crime in Malawi, let ACB or DPP or Police issue warrant of arrest. Fellow Malawians, even if we don’t like a particular person is no reason to use fowl or bad language

Robert
Robert
8 years ago

Inna lillah wa inna ilaih rajoon

Tonde
Tonde
8 years ago

Masten u used to distribute maize kumbuyo why not now nthawi yanjala?

Adamson Phiri MP Thyolo east
Adamson Phiri MP Thyolo east
8 years ago

JB tiziti umkachoka ku Domasi going ku Parliament kukaona mama Chirambo akukalowa mu Parliament basi????? umasowa zochita ndithu no Wanda

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