Joyce Banda: A new kind of African leader

When Banda, the new president of Malawi, was sworn into office on April 7, following the sudden death of President Bingu wa Mutharika from a heart attack, few expected her to pull her troubled southern African nation from the brink of an economic meltdown. But today, she is doing just that — and more.

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April 7, 2012

Joyce Banda gets out of a car during her inauguration as Malawi's new president in a ceremony in the capital, Lilongwe. Banda became the country's first female leader, and Africa's second female president, after Liberia's Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. "For me, Malawi comes first," Banda said. After her swearing in, she told her supporters there was "no room for revenge" after the previous president, the divisive Bingu wa Mutharika, died in office.

Stephane de Sakutin / AFP/Getty Images

April 7, 2012

Joyce Banda holds a ceremonial sword at her inauguration as Malawi's new president in the capital, Lilongwe. Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, indicted for war crimes, from entering Malawi, threatening him with arrest. She has sparked a public debate on repealing laws that criminalize homosexuality, a first for an African head of state. And in a part of the world where official repression of journalists is widespread, she has ushered in media freedoms.

Stephane de Sakutin / AFP/Getty Images

July 14, 2012

Supporters of President Joyce Banda celebrate her 100th day in office at a rally in Blantyre, Malawi. The Malawi that Banda inherited after the death of the previous president, Bingu wa Mutharika, was an economic basket case, punctured by massive fuel and electricity shortages. Businesses were shutting down; investors were fleeing. Banda is the polar opposite of Mutharika, an economist known for his lavish lifestyle, arrogance and dislike of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Her first step was to devalue Malawi's currency, raise tariffs and put in place a painful austerity program.

Sudarsan Raghavan / The Washington Post

July 14, 2012

Supporters of President Joyce Banda celebrate her 100th day in office at a rally in Blantyre, Malawi. Banda has spearheaded efforts to right the country's economic crises, convincing once-wary international donors to rethink their assistance to Malawi. The World Bank this month approved $150 million to support Banda's reforms. So has the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a U.S. government body that gives grants to select countries that show a commitment to democratic freedoms, good governance and human rights. "She's very genuine and truly committed," said Daniel Johannes, the MCC's chief executive. "I didn’t expect these changes to happen within 90 days of taking office."

Sudarsan Raghavan / The Washington Post

July 12, 2012

Supporters of President Joyce Banda stand outside her residence in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. They are wearing traditional attire bearing an image of Banda's face. Banda is the first female president of the country and only recently moved into the presidential palace because her supporters insisted that it would send a signal that a female president was equal to a male one.

Sudarsan Raghavan / The Washington Post

July 14,2012

President Joyce Banda poses for a portrait in her office in Blantyre, Malawi. Banda entered politics in 1999, as a member of parliament. She later became Malawi's foreign minister, and in 2009, then-President Bingu wa Mutharika tapped her to become his vice presidential running mate because he needed the women's vote to get reelected. But after taking office, Mutharika marginalized her, denying her a cabinet position, taking away her security and expelling her from his political party. In the hours after Mutharika's death in April, several cabinet ministers tried to strip her of her constitutional right to take over as president. But the country's top general backed her, and Banda was later sworn in. "They failed miserably to separate me from Malawians," she said.

Sudarsan Raghavan / The Washington Post

June 6, 2012

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, right, talks with President Joyce Banda at a reception prior to a lunch with the Commonwealth Nations Heads of Government and representatives of the Commonwealth nations, in London. A former British colony, Malawi, under Banda's leadership, is rebounding from a near economic meltdown. "There's a revival of hope that things are going to improve," said Kingdom Kwapata, a leading youth activist. "So a lot of Malawians are currently patient, but we don't know how long this patience will last."

Lefteris Pitarakis / AP

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