Lilian Estella Patel (born 2 February 1951) 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. She has represented Mangochi South in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

for the United Democratic Front (UDF) since 2014 and previously from 1994 to 2009. She has served as a minister with a number of portfolios. In 2024 she was appointed as the Chair of the UDF.

Life

Patel joined the United Democratic Front (UDF) in the early 1990s and she first represented Mangochi South in 1994. Patel was the Minister of Women's and Children's Affairs, Community Development and Social Welfare from 1996 to 1999. In 1996 she was one of nine women among the 177 members of the parliament. The idea of a women's caucus was put forward and the nine politicians put aside their party allegiances to work together. They wanted to make sure that whenever there was an issue that was related to women then they would act together. Patel became the first chair of the

Malawi Parliamentary Women's Caucus The Malawi Parliamentary Women's Caucus is a cross party group of women who are members of Malawi's National Assembly. It was formed in 1996 when there were nine women members of parliament who wanted to work together across parties whenever the ...

. There were more women in Malawi's parliament after the 1999 elections and Patel one of them. She continued to chair the caucus. Women related issues were debated in parliament but there was little related change to the law. Patel served as Minister of Health from 1999 to 2000 and as

foreign minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

of Malawi from 2000 to 2004. After serving as foreign minister, she was Minister of Labour and Vocational Training from 2004 to 2005. She lost the election to Yusuf Matumula in 2009 but she regained the seat in 2014. She has represented Mangochi South in the

for the United Democratic Front since 2014, She was called one of the longest-serving parliamentarians in 2024 who was loyal to her party. In 2024 UDF National Convention in Blantyre gathered 1,200 delegates. It was announced that former 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 ...

was to take the role of patron to the party. He appointed Patel as the chair of the UDF lauding her integrity. She had been identified by Parliament's First Deputy Madalitso Kazombo as a "respectable female parliamentarian" together with Mary Mpanga and

Roseby Gadama Roseby Gadama became the Malawian member of parliament for Zomda Thondwe in 2019. She is the chair of the Malawi Parliamentary Women's Caucus and she sits on the Public Accounts Committee. Life Gadama was born in Mulanje in eastern Malawi. She ...

in September 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patel, Lilian 1951 births Living people Ministers of foreign affairs of Malawi Female foreign ministers 20th-century women politicians 21st-century Malawian women politicians 21st-century Malawian politicians Women government ministers of Malawi Malawian women diplomats United Democratic Front (Malawi) politicians Members of the National Assembly (Malawi)