Ken Diston Lipenga (born 14 February 1952) is a

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

an politician, journalist, and writer. He was the Member of Parliament for Phalombe East from 1997 to 2014. He has served in various ministerial positions.

Personal life

Ken Diston Lipenga was born on 14 February 1952 at

Chiringa Chiringa is a town in Malawi. Location Chiringa is located approximately , by road, east of Phalombe, where the district headquarters are located. This is approximately , by road, east of Blantyre, the financial capital of Malawi and the lar ...

Phalombe District Phalombe is a district in the Southern Region of Malawi. The capital is Phalombe. The district covers an area of 1,394 km.² and has a population of 231,990. Demographics At the time of the 2018 Census of Malawi, the distribution of the po ...

. He attended Nazombe Primary School and then went to Mulanje Day Secondary School. Lipenga entered the

University of Malawi The University of Malawi (UNIMA) is a public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whethe ...

, enrolling at Soche Hill College in 1972 and graduating with a B.Ed. (Distinction) in 1976. He majored in English and History as well as Education. He then completed an M.A at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

in 1978. Lipenga won a Graduate Assistantship to study for Ph.D. in English Literature at the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English language, English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universiti ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and graduated in 1984. His thesis was entitled "Alienation in the Novels of

Ayi Kwei Armah Ayi Kwei Armah (born 28 October 1939) is a Ghanaian writer best known for his novels including '' The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born'' (1968), '' Two Thousand Seasons'' (1973) and '' The Healers'' (1978). He is also an essayist, as well as havin ...

". He returned home to continue with his teaching work at Chancellor College. Lipenga is married to Stella. He is a recreational

angler Angler may refer to: * A fisherman who uses the fishing technique of angling * Angler (video game), ''Angler'' (video game) * Angler (restaurant), a seafood restaurant in San Francisco, California * The angler, ''Lophius piscatorius'', a monkfish ...

, photographer and mountain climber. In his spare time, he has done research on the Lomwe language.

Career

Early career

After working as a management trainee at the Blantyre Printing and Publishing Company, Lipenga joined the faculty of the

at Chancellor College as an Assistant Lecturer in English. He left to complete his PhD in Canada and returned home to teach at Chancellor College. In 1986 he returned to Blantyre Printing and Publishing Company as General Manager and Editor-in-Chief of Blantyre Newspapers Ltd. In 1992 Lipenga was dismissed from his job following a series of provocative articles under his column, ''Off the Cuff''. The article, "Of Gallileo as Dissident," metaphorically criticized one-party rule under the

Kamuzu Banda Hastings Kamuzu Banda ( – 25 November 1997) was a Malawian politician and statesman who served as the leader of Malawi from 1964 to 1994. He served as Prime Minister from independence in 1964 to 1966, when Malawi was a Dominion/Commonwealth r ...

regime and sided with those calling for multi-party rule. Lipenga moved to Nkolokosa and worked as a

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

and

Radio Netherlands Radio Netherlands (RNW; ) was a public radio and television network based in Hilversum, producing and transmitting programmes for international audiences outside the Netherlands from 1947 to 2012. Its services in Dutch ended on 11 May 2012. Eng ...

correspondent. After meeting Aleke Banda, who had just been released from political detention, he joined a group that sympathized with the United Democratic Front (UDF). When Banda and family decided to establish ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

'' newspaper in 1993, Lipenga became the founding Editor-In-Chief. He resigned in 1995 upon being appointed Special Assistant to then-President

Bakili Muluzi Elson Bakili Muluzi (born 17 March 1943) is a Malawian politician who was President of Malawi from 1994 to 2004. He was also chairman of the United Democratic Front (UDF) until 2009. He succeeded Hastings Kamuzu Banda as Malawi's president. He al ...

Political career

Lipenga became MP for Phalombe East in a 1997 by-election. From 1999 to 2004 he served as Minister of Education, Science & technology. He then worked as Minister of Information, Communication and Tourism between 2004 and 2005. From 2005 to 2006 he served as Minister of Labour & Vocational Training. In 2007 he served as Minister of Trade & Industry. Then from 2007 to 2008 he was the Deputy Minister of Finance. In 2008 he was the Minister of Economic Planning and Development in the DPP ruled cabinet. He was then Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Culture until 2011, when he was appointed as

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

. His time as Minister of Finance was controversial due to the economic policies of the

Bingu wa Mutharika Bingu wa Mutharika (; born Brightson Webster Ryson Thom; 24 February 1934 – 5 April 2012) was a Malawian politician and economist who was President of Malawi from May 2004 until his death in April 2012. He was also President of the Democ ...

Administration, which led to protests on 20 July 2011. He served as well under the presidency of

Joyce Banda Joyce Hilda Banda (née Ntila; born 12 April 1950) is a Malawi, Malawian politician, who served as List of heads of state of Malawi, President of Malawi, from 7 April 2012 to 31 May 2014. Banda took office as President following the sudden deat ...

until 10 October 2013, when he was dropped in a cabinet reshuffle and replaced with

Maxwell Mkwezalamba Maxwell Mkwezalamba (born December 22, 1959) is a Malawian politician and economist. He is currently First Alternate Executive Director for Africa Group 1 Constituency, comprising 23 African countries, at the International Monetary Fund in Washing ...

following the Capital Hill Cashgate Scandal. Lipenga was unseated by independent candidate Amos Mailosi in the 2014 general election.

Works Published

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lipenga, Ken 1952 births Living people People from Phalombe District Finance ministers of Malawi Government ministers of Malawi 21st-century Malawian writers University of New Brunswick alumni Alumni of the University of Leeds University of Malawi alumni Academic staff of the University of Malawi Members of the National Assembly (Malawi) United Democratic Front (Malawi) politicians Democratic Progressive Party (Malawi) politicians People's Party (Malawi) politicians 20th-century Malawian writers Malawian journalists