Malawi is a small country in Southern Africa. Back in 2012 before the death of the country’s third president, Professor Bingu wa Mutharika, one well-known politician said at a political rally that Malawi as a country was not ready for a female president. The statement was made because at that time there was a female vice president. There had been speculation that if the president died, the vice president would take over the presidency. The politician’s statement was thus a negative reaction to the idea of being governed by a woman.
The above example is a clear indication that African women exercise leadership in a challenging environment because they are surrounded by cultural, social, economic, and political barriers that limit their access to organizational and community leadership. These challenges demand a way of leadership that is unique to the challenges that African women experience. These challenges are often part of the society’s structure, making it very hard for women to be accepted as leaders. In spite of these challenges, African women continue to be found in a variety of leadership positions in sectors including education, government, and civil society (Ngunjiri 2009). It is therefore right and proper to study and understand these female leaders and to craft leadership theories derived from practice in these contexts. Studying such female leaders will help us to develop leadership development strategies that work for women in Africa.
In this book I use the term Africa because Africa, though varied , it is still one continent. I use this word in a general sense because in terms of leadership the continent has widely followed a similar pattern in which countries started with community leadership which was destroyed by the coming of colonialism. After independence, most African countries started with one-party government and then later progressed to multiparty government. Despite the many differences between African countries, I also refer to Africa as one in consideration of the fact that Africans are often similar in their cultural beliefs. For example most Africans believe in the Ubuntu philosophy, which is communal. Another common example is the patriarchal culture. Patriarchy has been defined in different ways but the definition that fully captures the idea of this concept is given by Kalabamu ( 2004 ). He defined patriarchy as “a gendered power system, a network of social, political and economic relationships through which men dominate and control female labor, reproduction, and sexuality, as well as define women’s status, privileges and rights in a society” (p. 1).
The available literature on women and leadership, which mostly consists of studies from North America, focuses on barriers women face in their attempts to reach top management positions, and how those who make it to the top positions navigate the terrain of gender constraints (Ngunjiri 2009). This book provides successful stories of African women leaders who see leadership as a tool to bring transformative change. It uses indigenous stories to add to bridge the gap in the leadership literature by focusing on Malawian women.
Women around the world are underrepresented in leadership roles (Eagly and Carli 2003 ). In spite of the multiple challenges African women face today, there are some women who can still be found in positions of influence. For example, the presidents of Liberia and Malawi from 2012 to 2014 were women; women hold nearly 50 % of legislative seats in Rwanda and over 30 % of parliamentary seats in Mozambique, South Africa, Burundi, and Tanzania (Adams 2008 ). Yet, there is very little literature available that has focused on the successes and lessons that can be learned from them. Globally, women’s movements support the promotion of women in positions of influence. There is currently an international campaign that promotes a target of 50 % women in decision-making positions both in legislative seats and other sectors (Adams 2008 ). The campaign also sets a minimum 90 % threshold of seats that must be held by women.
As a result of pressure from such global campaigns, there has been a significant increase in the number of women who hold leadership positions and are successful in their careers. A number of different African countries have made progress in the number of women involved in legislative office. With more than 17 % of seats in Malawi, which is the global average requirement by the United Nations (UN) (Adams 2008 ), we have a clear indication that women in African countries are holding leadership positions and that they have made great progress.
The Geographical Location
Malawi is a small, landlocked Southern African country, a former British colony, which was called Nyasaland before independence. The country gained its independence in 1964. It borders Tanzania to the north; Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest; and Zambia to the west; see Fig. 1.1 showing the map of Malawi. Malawi is 901 km long and ranges from 80 to 161 km in width. It has a total of 118, 484 km 2 , of which 94, 276 km 2 (80 % of the total) is land; the remaining area is covered with water. Lake Malawi covers about one-fifth of the area, and is the third largest lake in Africa. It lies in the Great Rift Valley at about 400 m above sea level (Maluwa 2003 ). Malawi has a population of 14 million, with 15 % of the population living in urban areas; Lilongwe, Blantyre, Zomba, and Mzuzu are some of the major cities. The women leaders who participated in this study were drawn from all three regions of the country with interviews conducted in the capital city Lilongwe, which is in the central region, and Mzuzu, which is the largest city in the northern region. Malawi is divided into three main administrative regions, namely southern, central, and northern. There are six districts in the northern region, nine in the central region and 13 in the southern region. Malawi is described as the “warm heart of Africa” because of its friendly people.
The temperatures are normally warm, rarely going below 6 °C (42.8 °F) in winter (May, June, July), and ranging from 30 to 40 °C (104 °F) in summer (September, October, November). The rainy season, which is also commonly known as the planting season, begins in December and ends between April and May, when people harvest their crops. The Malawian economy depends on agriculture with tobacco as the main cash crop.
Sociocultural Context
Malawi has undergone many cultural changes in the last century. The most significant of these were the moves from colonial rule to independence and then from one-party rule to multiparty democracy . Before independence Malawi was part of a federation government. This federation consisted of Rhodesia, which is now Zimbabwe, Nyasaland, which is now Malawi, and Zambia. After Malawi attained its independence it was under the leadership of Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda, who ruled the country for 30 years. Dr. Banda declared Malawi a one-party state, ruled by the Malawi Congress Party. As time went by, Dr. Banda gained more power and he was made President for Life. Over time, he became a dictator. After a great deal of pressure from the international community to end the one-party regime, Dr. Banda called for a referendum to decide whether the people wanted a multiparty system or one-party government. Malawians voted for the former, and Dr. Banda’s power came to an end in 1994 after a democratic election, when the first democratically chosen president, Dr. Bakili Muluzi, was elected. Dr. Muluzi ruled for 10 years. At the end of his second term the constitution barred him from standing for election again. In 2004 the third president of the Republic of Malawi, Dr. Bingu Mutharika, was elected.
In 2012 Dr. Mutharika died after a cardiac arrest on April 5. After his death, the vice president, Mrs. Joyce Banda, took over the leadership mantle. As a result of the third president’s sudden death, Malawi experienced a gender revolution; for the first time, a female took over, since she was the vice president and therefore the right person to take over the leadership. In 2009 Mrs. Banda (not related to Dr. Banda, the first president of Malawi; Banda is a common name in Malawi) had been chosen to be the running mate for Dr. Mutharika during the general elections and had been elected vice president. It was the first time a woman had been chosen as a running mate. As the Malawi constitution mandates that the vice president take over should the seat of the president fall vacant, on April 7, 2012, Mrs. Joyce Banda was sworn in as the fourth president of the Republic of Malawi. This sudden change in leadership invited a lot of discussion on female leadership in Malawi.
The women leaders who participated in the study are more than 50years old. They were born before Malawi got its independence and therefore have all experienced the changes from colonial rule to independence and from ...
