Richard Banda SC 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 ...

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and former athlete. He is a judge who formerly served as Chief Justice of Malawi and

Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...

and as Minister of Justice in Malawi. He was president of the Commonwealth Magistrates' and Judges' Association and Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal. As a sportsman, Banda was a

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player. He is the spouse of the former

President of Malawi The president of the Republic of Malawi () is the head of state and head of government of Malawi. The president leads the executive branch of the Government of Malawi and is the commander-in-chief of the Malawian Defence Force. The current ...

, Joyce Banda and, as such, was the First Gentleman.

Career

Athletic career

He played soccer for Malawi,Commonwealth Secretariat – Justice Richard Banda
was the captain of the Malawi national team, the Flames, and later was president of the Football Association of Malawi. As a track and field athlete, Banda represented Malawi in the high jump. He later became the president of the Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association of Malawi.

Legal career

Banda was called to the Bar by

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in July 1966. He then worked with the Malawi Government Legal Service until 1970. He was appointed the Director of Public Prosecution by the president of Malawi Kamuzu Banda and later served as acting Solicitor General and Secretary for Justice. In April 1972 he was appointed Attorney General and became the first Malawian to be created Senior Counsel. He worked in these two roles until 1974 when he became Minister of Justice and Attorney General and was responsible for the Portfolio of Local Government until his resignation in 1976. In 1980, he re-entered the Judicial Service to fill the newly created office of Chief Resident Magistrate. In November 1980 he was appointed a Judge of the High Court and Supreme Court of Malawi. In 1992 Banda was appointed the first black Chief Justice of Malawi until 2002. He was the president of the Commonwealth Magistrates' and Judges' Association (CMJA) 2000–2003. He was the Chief Justice of

. He spoke against corruption and backlogs in the Swaziland Criminal Justice System. Banda was succeeded by Michael Ramodibedi after he retired due to his health.

Honors and awards

*Chairman of African Parks (Majete), 2003–2007 *President, Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal *President, Commonwealth Magistrates' and Judges' Association (CMJA), 2000–2003 *Honorary Life Fellow, Society of Advanced Legal Studies (constituent organization of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

) *Honorary Master of the Bench,

Personal life

Banda was born in Kawambwa,

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in Southern Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North ...

, near the border with

Nyasaland Nyasaland () was a British protectorate in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. After ...

(now Malawi). He is married to Malawi's former President, Joyce Banda. He is brother-in-law to Anjimile Oponyo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banda, Richard Chief justices of Malawi Chief justices of Eswatini First ladies and gentlemen of Malawi Malawian male high jumpers People from Kawambwa District Living people Malawian judges on the courts of Eswatini Members of Gray's Inn Attorneys-general of Malawi Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Malawian judges 21st-century Malawian judges