Malawi’s Wealth Woman magazine honours 8 females who are first achievers in their field

By Duncan Mlanjira

Wealth Woman Digital, a local entrepreneurial and business magazine championing, among others, narrative change from poverty to wealth creation, has highlighted eight women who are first achievers in their field.

They are — not in their order — Catherine Gotani Hara (first Speaker of Parliament); Dr. Joyce Banda (Malawi’s first female State President); Dr. Tamiwe Tomoka (first female pathologist); Prof. Address Malata (first Vice-Chancellor of prestigious Malawi University of Technology and Sciences (MUST).

As well as Dorothy Ngwira, (first female Chartered Public Accountant (CPA); Justice Anastazia Msosa (first woman High Court Judge as well as chairperson of Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC); Mbumba Banda (first female to manage a major news print and media company, Nation Publications Limited) and Yolanda Kaunda — Malawi’s first female airline captain.

The citations are that Dr. Joyce Banda set a leadership tone for all women that it is possible to rise to the top of whatever one desires to achieve and is committed to pursue it.

She has been instrumental over the years in development programmes that seeked to empower fellow women in the country and beyond.

“Wealth Magazine salutes and honour her hard work and the inspiration she gave to fellow women who looked down on themselves.”

For the first time ever, Malawi has a female Speaker of the National Assembly, Catherine Gotani Hara “joining a growing league of women leading legislatures across Africa including The Ghambia, South Africa and The Democratic Republic of Congo”.

“She once worked as a Programme Officer for UK’s Department for International Development, the first female Malawian to be recruited to that level and she is an alumnus of the prestigious Kamuzu Academy in Kasungu.

Yolanda Kaunda is the second indigenous Malawian to fly commercial aeroplanes in Malawi after Felistitous Matengo Mkandawire but she became first female airline  captain — “a feat that many young women in this day aspire to become”.

Her first flight as captain was on 11th March 2016 at Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe and in March 2017, Kaunda captained the first all-female flight for Malawian Airlines.

She is also an alumnus of Kamuzu Academy just as Felistitous Matengo Mkandawire is.

On top of being the first female Chartered Public Accountant (CPA) in Malawi, Dorothy Ngwira is also first when she attained a Managing Partner of audit firm, Graham Carr, “which is one of the top audit firms locally and affiliated to Nexia International”.

“An industry dominated mostly by men, she is a beacon of hope for aspiring women to become leading women. Wealth Magazine salutes her for being a forerunner and showing that its possible to lead as a woman and achieve remarkable success.

The first female pathologist, Dr. Tamiwe Tomoka (MBBS) is Director of a Pathology lab in Malawi teaches to undergraduate students at the College of Medicine where she is also faculty.

“Her inspiration has helped many students who thought pathology was predominantly a male specialisation to consider as a career which saw a second female pathologist sprout in 2017.

Justice Anastazia Msosa is recognised for becaming the first woman to be a judge in the High Court and also as the first female to head the Malawi Judiciary as its Chief Justice.

She was also first female chairperson of MEC’s Board of Commissioners when in 1993 — at a critical time when Malawi was transitioning from a one party state into multiparty democracy which she ably ushered.

It is also a post she was re-appointed for in 2005 and upheld until 2012 and Wealth Magazine says it “salutes and honour this true and patriotic daughter of the soil — who has inspired many to aspire for public offices to serve the nation”.

Professor Address Malata is the first woman Vice-Chancellor for the prestigious MUST and “she is also a recipient of an inaugural distinguished alumni award in recognition of the work in the fields of health care and education in the country and globally”.

“[The award was] given for the first time by Edith Cowan University in Australia where she studied both her Masters and PhD programmes.”

One of two of the country’s giant media house, Nation Publications has strived over the past two decades through its Managing Director, Mbumba Banda and she is also the patron of Mothers Day Fun Run which has in the past 10 years raised funds for equipment and medical supplies in maternity wards of public hospitals across the country..

“These are efforts to promote safe motherhood through the engagement of the private sector, international organisations and individuals — recognising that Government alone cannot fight to reduce maternal mortality alone” is what earned her special mention by Wealth Magazine.

In October last year, Worth Magazine organised a Wealth Woman Summit — whose panelists were accomplished Malawian women professionals and the keynote speaker was Associate Law Professor, Ngeyi Ruth Kanyongolo.

Other panelists were Mdingase Tewete (managing director of Kombeza Foods); Dr. Margaret Chaika (chief executive officer for Face Forward Group) and Patience Chatsika from Old Mutual Malawi.

The event brought together an array of women speakers from different industries that are accomplished in their efforts to support the evolution of the middle class in Malawi — which is a catalyst in the provision of an established consumer base that influences socio-economic growth with a focus on women.

In an interview last year, Wealth Magazine managing executive, Harry Chima said they focus on helping create a sustainable and conducive entrepreneurial-business ecosystem through practical and actionable information on entrepreneurship, investments, business, technology.

For the latest online issue, which has multiple inspirational stories of women achievers and their words of advice to young girls, the public is encouraged to contact Chima on 0888 340 049 after paying K2,000 through account # 1002040707; Wealth Magazine; National Bank of Malawi; Henderson Street.