[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 152 (Friday, November 30, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1856]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNIZING MALAWI PRESIDENT JOYCE BANDA ON BEING NAMED A ``TOP 100 
                   GLOBAL THINKER'' BY FOREIGN POLICY

                                  _____
                                 

                            HON. STEVE COHEN

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 30, 2012

  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, earlier this year I congratulated Joyce Banda 
on becoming the first female President of the Republic of Malawi. In 
her first 100 days, President Banda amassed an impressive list of 
accomplishments including securing Millennium Challenge Corporation 
investments, pledges for more support from USAID and strengthening 
Malawi's commitment to democracy. President Banda has now been named by 
Foreign Policy magazine a 2012 ``Top 100 Global Thinker,'' being 
accredited for ``stepping in--and up--to fix a broken country.'' I 
congratulate President Joyce Banda on this most recent acknowledgement 
of her success. Submitted here is the text of her prestigious 
recognition:

       When Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika died of a heart 
     attack in April, it wasn't immediately clear what would 
     become of his vice president, Joyce Banda. The two had fallen 
     out in recent years, with the increasingly autocratic 
     president booting Banda from his political party in 2010. 
     Even Mutharika's wife publicly derided the smalltown veep--a 
     longtime grassroots advocate for women, children, and the 
     poor--scoffing, ``She will never be president. How can a 
     mandazi [fritter] seller be president?'' After a tense two 
     days in the wake of Mutharika's death, however, Banda proved 
     the first lady wrong, becoming Africa's second-ever female 
     president.
       Governing Malawi--where an estimated 75 percent of its more 
     than 15 million residents live on $1 or less a day--presents 
     enormous challenges, to be sure. But in just seven months 
     Banda has largely thrown out her predecessor's playbook, 
     showing the world how to take charge and work to turn around 
     a troubled country. Within days of taking office, she 
     dismissed key members of Mutharika's administration, 
     including the police chief in power when 19 Malawian 
     demonstrators were killed at a 2011 opposition rally, and in 
     May, amid rising persecution of gays in Africa, she vowed to 
     repeal Malawi's laws against homosexuality. By devaluing the 
     Malawian currency by more than a third, a move Mutharika had 
     long refused despite the IMF's urging, Banda also secured a 
     much-needed $157 million IMF loan in June--a first step 
     toward rebuilding Malawi's debilitated economy.
       Her work is cut out for her. So far, however, all signs 
     suggest Banda could become a new model for African 
     leadership--shedding the strongman syndrome and getting down 
     to business to help the poor. To prove it, she has cut her 
     own salary by 30 percent and put her predecessor's $12 
     million presidential jet and most of his fleet of 60 luxury 
     cars up for sale. ``I can as well use private airlines,'' she 
     said. ``I am already used to hitchhiking.'' But it's more 
     than that: ``I must demonstrate to Malawians that we are in 
     this together,'' she explained to Al Jazeera. ``I must be the 
     first person to set an example.'' For Malawi, and the world 
     over.

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