In honor of Women’s History Month, the Involvement Newspaper will be featuring African Women Leaders, heroes and activists in a bid to remember their contributions towards a better Africa.
By Winnie Barake
winniemoraa6232@gmail.com
Thumbnail photo courtesy ofbritannica.com
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (born Ellen Eugenia Johnson, 29th October 1938) is a Liberian politician who served as the 24th President of Liberia from 2006-2018.
Sirleaf was the first elected female head of state in Africa. Sirleaf was born in Monrovia to a Gola father and Kru-German mother. She was educated at the College of West Africa and completed her education in the United States, where she studied at Madison Business College and Harvard University.
While in college, she became a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, and she is an honorary member of the Links Incorporated. In 1956, Ellen Johnson married James Sirleaf. They had four sons together before their divorce. She grew up as a Presbyterian, but later joined her husband’s Methodist faith. Through her sons, she has been blessed by ten grandchildren. After her stay in the United States, Ellen returned to Liberia to work in William Tolbert’s government as Deputy Minister of Finance from 1971-1974. Later she worked again in the West, for the World Bank in the Caribbean and Latin America.
In 1979, she received a cabinet appointment as Minister of Finance, serving to 1980. After Samuel Doe seized power that year in a coup d’état and executed Tolbert, Sirleaf fled to the United States, where she worked for Citibank and then the Equator Bank. In 1985, she retuned back to Liberia to contest a senatorial seat for Montserrado County, an election that was disputed.
At the beginning of the First Liberian Civil War in 1989, Sirleaf supported Charles Taylor’s rebellion against Doe. She helped raise money for the war and founded the National Patriotic Front of Liberia; with Taylor and Tom Woewiyu. Because of this, Doe’s government recommended that Sirleaf be banned from politics in Liberia for 30 years. But she later opposed Taylor’s handling of the war and his treatment of rival opposition leaders such as Jackson Doe.
By 1996, the presence of Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS) peacekeepers led to a cessation of hostilities. The nation held the 1997 general election, where Ellen returned to Liberia to contest. She ran as the presidential candidate for the Unity Party and placed second in a controversial election, getting 25% of the vote to Charles Taylor 75%. After controversy about the results and being accused of treason, Sirleaf left Liberia and went into exile in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. After the end of the Second Liberian Civil War and the establishment of a transitional government, Sirleaf was proposed as a possible candidate for chairman of the government.
Ultimately, Gyude Bryant, a political neutral, was chosen as chairman, while Sirleaf served as head of Governance Reform Commission. Sirleaf stood for president as the candidate of the Unity Party in the 2005 general election. She placed the second in the first round of voting behind George Weah, a former footballer. In the subsequent run-off election, Sirleaf earned 59% of the vote versus 40% for Weah, though Weah disputed the results.
The announcement of the new leader was postponed until further election investigations were carried out. On 23rd November 2005, Sirleaf was declared the winner of the Liberian election and confirmed as the country’s next president and the first woman to be elected as president of an African country. Her inauguration took place on 16 January 2006.
It was attended by many foreign dignitaries, including; United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and First Lady Laura Bush. As Africa’s first democratically-elected female head of state, she has led Liberia through reconciliation and recovery following the nation’s decade-long civil war, as well as the Ebola Crisis, winning international acclaim for achieving economic, social, and political change.
Recognized as a global leader for women’s empowerment, President Sirleaf was awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize for Peace in 2011. She is the recipient of The Presidential Medal of Freedom the United States’ highest civilian award—for her personal courage and unwavering commitment to expanding freedom and improving the lives of Africans.
Her many honors also include the Grand Croix of the Légion d’Honneur, France’s highest public distinction, and being named one of Forbes’s “100 Most Powerful Women in the World.”
In honor of Women’s History Month, the Involvement Newspaper will be featuring African Women Leaders, heroes and activists in a bid to remember their contributions towards a better Africa.
Difret, a 2014 Ethiopian film, was done in honor of this remarkable woman. Meaza Ashenafi, Ethiopia’s current Chief Justice, is a woman to be held in high esteem. Not only is she the first woman to occupy the seat of Chief Justice in her country, but also, she is the founder of the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA). An association created to offer legal assistance to women; and of note, managed to incept a word in Amharic- Ethiopia’s official language- to describe sexual harassment. “Wesibawi tinkosa” is the Amharic word for sexual harassment: an expression that lacked a name in the country’s lexicon, but got one courtesy of the EWLA.
Also, to empower women financially, Meaza cofounded Enat bank, an all first women’s bank in Ethiopia in 2011, where she once sat as the Chair of the bank’s board.
Revered as a human rights advocate and a progressive lawyer, Meaza while serving at the EWLA, represented a 14-year-old girl, Aberash Bekele, who was accused of killing a man who had abducted and raped her, all in the name of t’elefa (a cultural practice that allows for the kidnapping of child brides). To Meaza’s credit and that of the entire EWLA team, Aberash won the case placed against her in the court of law and consequently, t’elefa was outlawed in Ethiopia. This case still ranks momentous in Meaza’s career life and also, carries a historical significance in Ethiopia.
Photo courtesy of filmfest-frauenwelten.de
In 2018, when Abiy Ahmed became Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Meaza Ashenafi was appointed head of the Federal Supreme Court- in other terms, as Chief Justice. She took up the position, though with her publicly placed words to the Prime Minister’s office that: “You might not be happy with the decisions I make in this position.”
Having served also as one of her country’s high court judge; the human rights adviser to the Ethiopian Constitution committee and adviser on gender and women’s rights in the capacity development division of UNECA among many other positions, it is of no doubt that still in the making, is Meaza’s history of changing the narrative of women in leadership.
On Friday the 19th of March Tanzania joined WTO, some African countries, and America in making history for black and African women. On the 4th of November 2020, America made history by electing Khamala Harris, who was Biden’s running mate, as the first woman and first black woman vice president. On the 15th of February 2021, the WTO (World Trade Organization) made history by electing Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo Iweala as their 17th Director-General.
On Wednesday evening she was tasked with announcing the death of the late President John Magufuli to Tanzanians and now Vice-President Samia Suluhu Hassan has taken his place as the country’s head of state.
The Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan was on Friday sworn in at a ceremony in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam before a roomful of dignitaries as Tanzania’s first female president after the sudden death of John Magufuli.
“It’s not a good day for me to talk to you because I have a wound in my heart,” said Hassan. “Today I have taken an oath different from the rest that I have taken in my career. Those were taken in happiness. Today I took the highest oath of office in mourning,” she said, after being sworn in at 10 am on Friday.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan Being Sworn In. Photo Courtesy of bbc.com
She announced 21 days of mourning for Magufuli and public holidays on March 22 and on March 25, the day the late president will be buried in her first public address as president.
“It is not the time to point fingers at each other but to hold hands and move forward to build the new Tanzania that President Magufuli aspired to,” she said, amid opposition claims about the cause of Magufuli’s death.
In 2015 she was elected as Tanzanian’s first female vice president as Magufuli’s running mate and last year she was re-elected along with him. His choice of her for a running mate in 2015 came as a surprise, leaping over several other more prominent politicians in the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, which has been in power in one form or another since independence in 1961. As the constitution states, she should serve out the rest of the five-year term as the President.
She joins a shortlist of women on the continent to have run their countries and currently, she becomes Africa’s only current female national leader – the Ethiopian presidency is a largely ceremonial role.
She was first elected to a public office in 2000 in her native Zanzibar as a special seat member of the Zanzibar House of Representatives and appointed a minister. At the time, she was the only high-ranking female minister in the Cabinet.
She eyed election to the National Assembly in 2010, after serving two terms, winning the vote by more than 80%. The former President Jakaya Kikwete appointed her as the minister of state for union affairs. In 2014 she came to national prominence as the vice-chairperson of the Constituent Assembly, created to draft a new constitution. She earned her plaudits through her calm demeanor in managing occasional outbreaks of pandemonium and how she dealt with some of the more outspoken members.
The Tanzanian’s affectionately know her as Mama Samia – since in the Tanzanian culture that reflects the respect she is held in, rather than reducing her to a gendered role.
When she was serving as the minister of labour, gender development and children in Zanzibar in 2005, she overturned a ban on young mothers returning to school after giving birth. The late President Magufuli insisted that a similar ban be implemented on the mainland. It is not clear whether she opposed his stance in government.
Contrary to her predecessor, her leadership style is purportedly quite different from Magufuli’s. Samia Suluhu Hassan has been described as a much more diplomatic political figure. Among her colleagues she is known for following the correct procedures and calmly managing conflicts among MPs.
“She does have good negotiation skills,” said Sarungi. “I think the fact that she’s very calm and doesn’t often show emotions but is firm, as well as the fact that she’s got a sense of humor. And of course, that contrasts very sharply with the late president, Magufuli.”
Sarungi warns against expecting too much from her this soon, “I think the expectations are huge,” she said. “Tanzanians are very eager to open up a new chapter after a very dark, controversial, and extremely divisive five-and-a-half years of John Magufuli.”
“But at the end of the day, she’s coming from a political party. The same party that gave us John Magufuli.”
For his hasty and having an intolerant approach towards policymaking the late president was dubbed “The Bulldozer”. The uncertainty of whether she will remain loyal to Magufuli’s controversial policies or push for change remains to be answered. The late President Magufuli drew criticism for banning pregnant girls from attending school and urging women to stop taking birth control pills.
Nonetheless, many Tanzanians still expressed approval and respect for the decisions Magufuli made while in office. Her first public address leaked a few clues on how she might approach her new role.
“It was too controversial in the sense that she talked about reconciliation and burying the differences,” said Sarungi. “This is a very flippant remark when there are serious issues including abuses of human rights…These are issues that she needs to start grappling within a more meaningful way.”
AFRICA’S LEADING WOMEN SERIES: African women who’ve served/are serving their countries in the capacities of: President, Prime minister and/or Vice President.
Know them, appreciate them and remember them.
#THEAFRICANLEADINGWOMENSERIES
Initiated by Nyokabi Ng’ang’a, for The Involvement Newspaper.
PART 8(Final Part of the Series)
By: Nyokabi Ng’ang’a (Leshnyokabi@gmail.com)
Thumbnail photo created by Nyokabi Ng’ang’a
Mame Madior Boye: Senegal’s 1st female Prime Minister.
Photo courtesy of alchetron.com
Mame Madior Boye was born in 1940 in Saint-Louis, Senegal.
A lawyer by profession, she gained an education on her area of expertise from the Faculty of Legal and Economic Sciences in Dakar and the National Center for Judicial Studies in Paris. This paved her way, to become the first female President of the Association of Senegalese Lawyers from 1975-1990.
Later in the year 1990, she took the position of Director of Engagements at the West Africa Banking Company, serving the organization till the year 2000.
After Abdoulaye Wade was elected President of Senegal in 2000, she was appointed Minister of Justice and a year later, following the dismissal by President Wade, Prime Minister Moustapha Niasse resigned and Mame Madior was then appointed the new Premier by the President. This appointment was the first in the country’s history in female occupancy.
However, in 2002, Mame Madior was dismissed as Premier by President Wade, reportedly due to ‘the lack of enough response’ on the Joola maritime tragedy- often referred to as a sea disaster ‘worse than titanic’- that caused the deaths of thousands.
Luck seemingly on her side, she was appointed African Union’s Special Representative for the promotion of the protection of civilians in armed conflicts, two years later, by Mali’s 4th President and then, Chairperson of the African Union Commission- Alpha Oumar Konaré. However, with changing tides, a judge in France issued an arrest warrant on her, alongside other 8 persons, in 2008, in connection to the Joola disaster. Though this didn’t happen, as the Senegalese government casted off the Judge’s arrest warrant issue and instead, prosecuted the judge in mention.
Dr. Aminata Touré: Senegal’s 2nd female Prime Minister.
Photo courtesy of leaders-afrique.com
Dr. Aminata Touré was born in 1962 in her country, Senegal.
A PhD holder in International Business, Administration and Finance from the University of Burgundy, France; her areas of expertise, as publicly recorded, revolve around: Economics, Administration/Governance and Gender Affairs.
Before being appointed Prime Minister by President Macky Sall in 2013, she worked at the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) and of note, as the Director of Gender and Human Rights World Department at the UN subsidiary, in New York, from 2009-2012. Shortly after, she was appointed Minister of Justice by President Sall, where she served for a year or so. As Minister of Justice, she was credited for her anti-corruption campaigns, which saw the arrest of prominent people in Senegal and made her gain the title: ‘The Iron Lady’.
In 2013, as earlier registered, she was appointed Premier and served her country at large, for nearly a year, before her dismissal authorized by President Sall on July 2014, after she failed to win local elections in Dakar.
Nonetheless, she continued working under President Sall’s administration, as his Special Envoy for Internal and External Affairs and on his election observatory team/mission; which missioned in various African countries, to mention: Kenya, Mauritius, Ivory Coast and Liberia.
Joice Mujuru: Zimbabwe’s 1st female Vice President.
Photo courtesy of alchetron.com
Joice Runaida Mujuru was born in the year 1958, in her country, Zimbabwe.
She is a renowned guerrilla war veteran who fought against Ian Smith’s white Rhodesian minority government, alongside other notable persons of/in Zimbabwe’s history.
With a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Management and Entrepreneurial Studies, all gotten from one of her Country’s Universities, she set out to be, as registered, the youngest cabinet minister in post-colonial government, heading the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Recreation, from 1980-1985. Prior to this, it’s noted, she was a Member of Parliament for Mt. Darwin West Parliamentary Seat.
In 1985, she was appointed Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, where she served for five years, and close afterward, chosen as Minister of Community Development, Co-operatives and Women’s Affairs, where she served for four years.
From 1992 to 1996, she became Governor of Mashonaland Central (a province in Zimbabwe) and later, she was appointed Minister of Information, Posts and Telecommunications. In this post, she served Zimbabwe for a year and later took the post of Minister for Rural resources and Water Development in 1997-2004.
After the passing of Vice President Simon Muzenda in 2004, the Women’s league of the Zimbabwe African National Union- Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) – the country’s leading political party in which the late President Mugabe belonged to-, convened a meeting and pushed forth for the appointment of a woman, Joice Mujuru to this regard, as the new Vice President.
This move, however constrained, was accepted and implemented by the late President Mugabe, causing Joice Mujuru to be the first woman to head such a position in the country’s history. Ten years down the line, however, following plotting suspicions and claims, President Mugabe ousted Ma’am Joice from power. This also resulted to her membership-loss in the ZANU-PF party.
To learn more about Ma’am Joice Mujuru, click here.
Inonge Mutukwa Wina: Zambia’s 1st female Vice President.
Photo courtesy of en.wikipedia.org
Inonge Mutukwa was born in 1941 in her country, Zambia.
A holder of a B.A degree in History and Sociology from the University of Zambia- as her career’s starter- she has featured in many NGO boards and portfolio committees of her government.
In 2001, Ma’am Inonge Wina contested for the Nalolo Constituency Parliamentary seat under the United Party for National Development (UNDP), which to her credit and to that of her then party, she won. Serving in this post for close to six years, she re-contested under the United Liberal Party- a splinter of the UNDP-, and sadly, lost.
Five years later, in 2011, she contested once more and won, but, under the country’s ruling Patriotic Front (PF) Party ticket. In the same year, purportedly, she was appointed by the late President Michael Sata, as the Minister of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs, where she served her country in that post for 3 years, and later in 2014, appointed Minister of Gender and Child Development.
In the year 2015, following the win of President Edgar Lungu, she was appointed the Vice President of the Republic of Zambia, making her the first woman to occupy such a position in her country. However, resignation calls from her post, as of this year, are high following the claims of her old age and COVID-19 contraction.
To learn more about Ma’am Inonge Wina, a Zambian revered human rights activist, click here.
Others who deservingly need a mention for leading their countries, though tentatively, in the aforementioned positions are:
Ivy Matsepe- Casaburri of South Africa, who led her country as acting President twice. One, in 2005, when both the President and Vice President were out of the country, and two, when President Thabo Mbeki resigned and close afterward, Kgalema Motlanthe assumed Presidency. She held these two similar roles for four days and 14 hours, respectively.
Thokozani Khupe of Zimbabwe, who led her country as Deputy Premier in the year 2009 to the year 2013.
Queen Gwamile of the Kingdom of eSwatini, who led her country (Kingdom) as its regent before King Sobhuza the Second, King Mswati the third’s father, become of age and fit to lead the Kingdom as its heir.
Queen Dzeliwe of the Kingdom of eSwatini, who led her country (Kingdom), as well, on behalf of King Mswati the third, who was then young and unfit to occupy the role of King.
If there is anyone who isn’t captured in this series and deservingly needs a mention, feel free to write to us or post their name on the comment box.
AFRICA’S LEADING WOMEN SERIES: African women who’ve served/are serving their countries in the capacities of: President, Prime minister and/or Vice President.
Know them, appreciate them and remember them.
#THEAFRICANLEADINGWOMENSERIES
Initiated by Nyokabi Ng’ang’a, for The Involvement Newspaper.
PART 7
By: Nyokabi Ng’ang’a (Leshnyokabi@gmail.com)
Thumbnail photo created by Nyokabi Ng’ang’a
Maria das Neves: São Tomé and Príncipe’s 1st female Prime Minister.
Photo courtesy of alchetron.com
Maria das Neves was born in her country, São Tomé and Príncipe, in the year 1958.
An economist graduate from Cuba, she worked as a civil servant in her country’s Ministry of Finance and later at the World Bank and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
In the year 1999, she was appointed Minister of Economics, where she served her country till the year 2001 and later on, in the same year, as Minister of Finance where it’s believed her service lasted a year. In the year 2002, she then took the role of Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism.
Under President Fradique de Menezes’ rule, which took course in the year 2001, she was elected Prime Minister in the year 2002 with the mandate of heading the government. Following the economic and power struggles within the country, there was a military coup in the year 2003 and with the absence of the President who was not in the country, Ma’am Maria das Neves, alongside other governmental officials, were arrested on the claims that the government was corrupt. Due to this occurrence, as believed, she was hospitalized after suffering a mild heart attack, causing her to resign from her role as Prime Minister.
Her resignation came after Fradique de Menezes was reinstated as President, following an internationally- pushed agreement between him and the coup leaders.
However, as a result of President Fradique’s insistence, she took up the Prime Minister’s role, once more, serving her country till the year 2004, after which, she was dismissed by the former as Premier, on the claims of corruption linkages to her governance.
To learn more of this lady pace-setter, click here.
Maria do Carmo Silveira: São Tomé and Príncipe’s 2nd female Prime Minister.
photo courtesy of en.wikipedia.org
Maria do Carmo Silveira, was born in the year 1960, in her country São Tomé and Príncipe.
Educated at the University of Ukraine as an economist, she featured twice as the 3rd and 6th governor of São Tomé and Príncipe’s central bank. This, to mention, was in the years: 1999-2005 and 2011-2016.
In the year 2005, she was appointed Prime Minister of her country by President Fradique de Menezes. She served in this capacity; concurrently also as Minister of Finance and Planning, for close to an year, with her term halting in April the 21st in the year 2006, after a parliamentary election saw her party defeated by the opposition.
With no substantial information found on her life before Premiership, click here to have a look at her profile.
Isatou Njie-Saidy: The Gambia’s 1st female Vice President.
Photo courtesy of enacademic.com
Isatou Njie-Saidy was born in Kuntaya, North Bank, Gambia in the year 1952.
She served as her country’s first female Vice President from the year 1997 to the year 2017. This she did alongside her ministerial role in women affairs. It is believed that she is the world’s longest serving Vice President, having served her country for 10 solid years.
A holder of a Master of Science in economics from the University of Swansea, Wales, UK; her zones of expertise as featured in her areas of studies, to mention, in broad are: Industrial management, Economics and Teaching.
In the year 1983, she took up the role of Deputy Executive Secretary of the women’s bureau- the executive decision making body of the National Women’s Council of Gambia. She served in this capacity till the year 1989.
Later, in 1996, under President Yahya Jammeh’s rule, she was appointed Minister of Health, Social Welfare and Women’s affairs and worked in this capacity for a year, before being appointed Vice President, the first female for that matter, of the Gambia.
It’s reported that in 2015, there were established constraints between her and President Jammeh, resulting to her resignation in 2017.
To learn more of this deeply revered woman of the Gambia, click here.
Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang: The Gambia’s 2nd female Vice President.
Photo courtesy of en.wikipedia.org
Fatoumata Jallow was Gambia’s former Vice President who served under President Adama Barrow, for nearly a year.
Born in 1949 in Brikima, Gambia, she was educated in her country alongside Senegal and France. It’s reported that her early University education saw her get a BA in French from the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis in France.
Prior to her selection as the Secretary of State (Minister) for Health and Social Welfare in 1994, she served as an adviser to President Dawda Jawara- Gambia’s first President who was later ousted.
Afterwards, she joined the United Nations where she worked as a gender expert in the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). It’s also featured that she worked as the chairwoman of the Gambia National Women’s council.
Fast-forward to 2016, courtesy of her political routings, she with notable others, formed the coalition 2016- an amalgamation of opposing political parties- that steered the exit of Yahya Jammeh as Gambia’s president. To her credit, she was regarded as the mastermind behind this plan, and for the worth note, she sat as the coalition’s chairperson.
After Yahya Jammeh took to exile in Equatorial Guinea, Adama Barrow who was appointed presidential candidate of the coalition, was instated as President in the year 2017- following his win of the 2016 elections- and on his inauguration, he appointed Ma’am Fatoumata as his Vice-president. However, after being appointed, concerns were raised about her age as an impediment to taking office. Nonetheless, her appointment was confirmed by President Adama Barrow and she served her country in this position of the Vice-President till June 2018. Of other importance, she also served concurrently as the Minister of Women Affairs while overseeing the Vice President’s office.
To learn more of this New African Woman who scooped the 2017 New African Woman of the Year Award by the New African Magazine, click here.
Dr. Isatou Toray: The Gambia’s current and 3rd female Vice President.
Photo courtesy of vanguardafrica.com
Isatou Touray was born in 1955, in her country, The Gambia. She grew up in Banjul, Gambia’s capital, and attended her primary, secondary and start-up tertiary schooling within her country. Later on, after graduating as a teacher of English and Home Economics from The Gambia College, in 1971, she became a teacher and then ventured into the field of community development, afterwards, with a special focus on women and development.
A PhD holder in Development Studies- with a special emphasis on Gender- from the University of Sussex, UK, Ma’am Isatou Toray’s field of studies are wide and heavily routed within her areas of passions. To mention, she holds a degree in Education and English from Usman Dan Fodio University in Sokoto, Nigeria and a Master’s Degree in Development Studies with specialization in women and development, from the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague, The Netherlands.
Known widely in her country and substantially in Africa, for being a staunch feminist and a gender and human rights activist, she has featured in many organizations and boards; worth recognizing being: the Inter-African Committee (IAC) – a formed Pan-African Network of over twenty eight African countries aimed at Eliminating Harmful Traditional Practices– where she served as the network’s secretary general from the year 2009-2014. To this regard, she also cofounded The Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (GAMCOTRAP) and introduced a Diploma in Gender and Development program and founded the Gender Unit of the Management Development Institute, of which all are situated and running in her country.
Just for the good mention, she is recognized and credited as both an international and national advocate for the end of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in The Gambia, and largely, in Africa.
In the year 2016, infuriated with President Yahya Jammeh’s exceeding twenty years hard-fisted rule, she alongside others, contested for the Presidential seat. She did so as an independent candidate and notably, as the only woman in Gambia’s history. However, she stepped down to back Adama Barrow as President and to support the Coalition 2016. When Adama Barrow became President, she sat in his cabinet as the Trade Minister and later on, as the Health Minister. In 2019, following a major cabinet reshuffle, she was appointed the Vice President of the Gambia by President Adama, succeeding her predecessor, Ousainou Darboe.
To learn more of the life story of this deeply revered African- Gambian lady, click here.
Will your country be the next?
Kindly schedule to read the subsequent article of this series, next week.
AFRICA’S LEADING WOMEN SERIES: African women who’ve served/are serving their countries in the capacities of President, Prime minister and/or Vice President.
Know them, appreciate them and remember them.
#THEAFRICANLEADINGWOMENSERIES
#31women #8articles
Initiated by Nyokabi Ng’ang’a, for The Involvement Newspaper.
PART 6
By Nyokabi Ng’ang’a (Leshnyokabi@gmail.com)
Thumbnail photo created by Nyokabi Ng’ang’a
Agnès Monique Ohsan-Bellepeau: Mauritius’s first elected female Vice President.
Photo courtesy of soundcloud.com
Ma’am Agnès Monique was believably born in 1942 in her country, Mauritius. She descends from a political family, with her father featured in Mauritius’s political history as one of the founders of one of the country’s four main political parties-Mauritian Labour Party. To her credit, she led the party as its president, purportedly from the years 2007 to 2010.
Having studied journalism as her area of profession, she worked as a news announcer at her country’s national television channel- Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation. Thereafter, in the year 2010, she was unanimously selected by Members of the National Assembly in a parliamentary election, as the first female Vice President of the Republic of Mauritius. She took up this elected role following the demise of Vice President Angidi Chettiar.
Serving under President Anerood Jugnauth, she rose to fill up the ranks of the country’s acting president, after the former resigned in the year 2012. Shortly after, Kailash Purryag was instated as President of the country, making Ma’am Agnès Vice President, once more. Later, on 29th May 2015, President Kailash Purryag resigned, making Ma’am Agnès, again, acting President of the Republic of Mauritius. However, this was short-lived, as, in June of the same year, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim was instated as President of the country.
In the year 2016, Ma’am Agnès Monique’s reign as Vice President of Mauritius came to a halt.
To learn more of this lady pace-setter and holder of the prestigious Grand Officer of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean (GOSK) order, click here.
Dr Ameenah Gurib-Fakim: Mauritius’s first elected female President.
photo courtesy of en.wikipedia.org
Dr Ameenah Gurib was born in the year 1959 in Surinam, Mauritius. She is a certified biodiversity scientist, who holds a doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Exeter, England, in the year 1987.
Before becoming the first elected female President of Mauritius in the year 2015, she worked at the University of Mauritius as an organic chemistry lecturer and in addition, Dean of the faculty of science and pro-vice-chancellor. In the year 2009, it is recorded that she opened a research centre in her country, dedicated to the study of the medical and nutritious effects of plant life- where she worked also as its managing director.
With a high profile status, her works haven’t gone unnoticed as she has been gifted various accolades, some of which include: The African Union Award for Women in Science and L’Oréal – UNESCO Award for Women in Science.
In the year 2018, Ma’am Ameenah resigned from office over a credit card scandal.
To learn more of this iconic figure in Mauritius’s history, click here.
Dr Joyce Banda: Malawi’s first elected female Vice President and consequently, President.
photo courtesy of nutritionintl.org
Born in 1950 in her country, Malawi, Dr Joyce Banda has risen to the ranks of the most respected women in the continent of Africa.
As public knowledge holds, before indulging into the political running of her country, she founded and directed various organizations, which stately are: a garment-manufacturing business; a bakery; the National Association of Business Women of Malawi; the Young Women Leaders Network; the Hunger project; and the Joyce Banda foundation whose main concern is improving the lives of women and children in rural areas.
As a debut into her political career, in the year 2004, she served her country as a member of the then ruling party- United Democratic Front (UDF) – in the National Assembly. Later on, in the same year, on changing her political party, she was elected Minister of Gender, child welfare and community services by President Bingu wa Mutharika, where she served till the year 2006; after which, she was elected as Minister of Foreign Affairs till the year 2009.
In the same year (2009), she was chosen as President Bingu wa Mutharika’s running mate, and after elections were successfully held, she emerged to be the first female holder of the Vice Presidential seat in Malawi.
As a result of the President’s death in the year 2012, she resultantly- though with surrounding obstacles main emanating from her political opponents- became the first female holder of Malawi’s Presidential seat. Her reign saw many changes, with democracy growing and the press freedom dream, being validated. Malawi’s economy also grew, purportedly in double, during her reign.
On the downside, yet worth all the credit, through her authorization a corruption scandal was revealed. This corruption scandal, well known as the Cash-gate scandal, exposed most of the members of Ma’am Joyce’s cabinet. This led her to dissolve her cabinet and attracting criticism of all sorts from her political opponents.
In the year 2014, her Presidential reign came to a halt, but she went to the extra mile of campaigning once more for the seat, under her formed party- People’s Party. But after some irregularities experienced in the elections causing for a repeal, she stepped down citing that she wouldn’t feature in the repeated elections.
Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka: South Africa’s first female Deputy President.
Photo courtesy of zimbio.com
Dr Phumzile Mlambo was born in the year 1955 in her country, South Africa. She is globally recognized as the administrative face of the United Nations Women, due to her role as Executive Director of the mentioned UN subsidiary body.
With a BA in Social Sciences and Education, she set out as a lecturer at Mpumalanga Teacher’s Training College and a teacher, thereafter, at Ohlange High School in the early ‘80s.
Lauded historically for her efforts, alongside many others, in ending apartheid in her country, she assumed various positions at the party and governmental levels, both during pre and post-independent times.
In the year 1994, Ma’am Phumzile served her country as a Member of Parliament with a chair- hood at the Public Service Portfolio Committee. Two years later, she was appointed Deputy Minister in the Department of Trade and Industry. Later, in the year 1999, she was appointed Minister of Minerals and Energy, where she served till the year 2005. Momentarily, she also served as Acting Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology in the year 2004.
Mid of the year 2005, she was appointed by President Thabo Mbeki as Deputy President following the latter’s dismissal of Jacob Zuma- Phumzile’s predecessor. As Deputy Premier, she was credited for incepting various initiatives aimed at solving the issue on lack of skills in post-apartheid and independent South Africa.
Following the voting out of President Thabo Mbeki as Africa National Congress’s (ANC) leader, in the year 2007, Ma’am Phumzile’s deputy premiership came to a halt. She didn’t stop causing impact however, as closely a year after, she instated a foundation known as Umlambo, to assist schools in impoverished areas through mentorship and coaching their teachers.
To learn more of this iconic global figure and the efforts she has undertaken to make this world a safer place not only for South Africans but also for the world at large, girls and women to be specific, click here.
Will your country be the next?
Kindly schedule to read the subsequent article of this series, next week.
