Statecraft & Independence
Landmark
Rose Chibambo
1928 – 2016
Malawi's first woman cabinet minister, and her face on the banknote
Landmark is level 2 of 4 in the Malawi Hall of Fame: a first that opened a door, or the pre-eminent figure of their generation in this country. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
She and Vera Chirwa founded the Nyasaland African Women's League and made women count in the independence fight. At independence she was the only woman in parliament and the country's first woman minister. She is on the Malawi kwacha today.
Rose Lomathinda Chibambo was born on 8 September 1928 and became a leading figure in the British protectorate of Nyasaland in the years before independence.
In Blantyre she joined Vera Chirwa to found the Nyasaland African Women's League, organising Malawian women as a political force that had to be reckoned with alongside the men in the push for independence. She won the Mzimba South seat in the 1963 elections, and when Malawi became independent in July 1964 she was the only woman member of parliament, parliamentary secretary to Kamuzu Banda, and Deputy Minister for Hospitals, Prisons and Social Welfare — the country's first woman cabinet minister. She died on 12 January 2016, and her face is on the Malawi kwacha.
In Blantyre she joined Vera Chirwa to found the Nyasaland African Women's League, organising Malawian women as a political force that had to be reckoned with alongside the men in the push for independence. She won the Mzimba South seat in the 1963 elections, and when Malawi became independent in July 1964 she was the only woman member of parliament, parliamentary secretary to Kamuzu Banda, and Deputy Minister for Hospitals, Prisons and Social Welfare — the country's first woman cabinet minister. She died on 12 January 2016, and her face is on the Malawi kwacha.
- Wikipedia — Rose Chibambo
- Nyasa Times — Rose Chibambo dies aged 86: Malawi's first female minister, she is on the banknote
- Africa Is a Country — In honour of Rose Lomathinda Chibambo
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