Sidik Mia (4 March 1965 – 12 January 2021) was a

Malawian Demographic features of the population of Malawi include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Region distribution Northern regio ...

businessman, politician, and Member of Parliament who held various ministerial positions within the

Cabinet of Malawi The Cabinet of Malawi is the executive branch of the government, made up of the President, Vice President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers responsible for the different departments. Cabinet as of 31 January 2023 A new cabinet was appointed on ...

beginning in 2004, serving as Minister of Transport and Public Works since June 2020. He was the Deputy President of the

Malawi Congress Party The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) is a political party in Malawi. It was formed as a successor party to the banned Nyasaland African Congress when the country, then known as Nyasaland, was under British rule. The MCP, under Hastings Banda, pre ...

(MCP) until his death due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

related illness on 12 January 2021 during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Malawi The COVID-19 pandemic in Malawi is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have reached Malawi on 2 April 2020. It has spread ...

. He stood as the vice presidential running mate to Dr.

Lazarus Chakwera Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera (born 5 April 1955) is a Malawian politician and theologian who has served as President of Malawi since June 2020. He has served as the leader of the Malawi Congress Party since 2013. He was president of the Malawi Asse ...

in the

2019 Malawian general election General elections were held in Malawi on 21 May 2019 to elect the President of Malawi, President, National Assembly (Malawi), National Assembly and local government councillors. Incumbent President Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive P ...

Early life

Sidik Mia was born in 1965 in

Chikwawa Chikwawa is a town with a population of 6,114 according to the 2018 census located in the Southern Region of Malawi on the west bank of the Shire River. It is the administrative capital of the Chikwawa District. Chikwawa lies almost south of B ...

. He went on to obtain a diploma in Business Management. Upon completion, he subsequently established a number of businesses within Malawi and built a network of wealthy business partners who he would later on persuade to become major donors to the Democratic Progressive Party. Sidik Mia's Father, Abdul Wahab Sidik Mia was born in Nsanje, Marka. Business tycoon and philanthropist, he had been influential in the politics of Nyasaland and later on Malawi (mostly in the lower shire and later on nationwide).

Political life

Sidik Mia was elected a Member of Parliament for Chikwawa-Nkombedzi constituency in May 2004 in Malawi's southern district of Chikwawa and was appointed Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Food Security in June 2004. In 2005 he was in turn Deputy Minister of Mines, Natural Resources and Environment, Deputy Minister of Transport and Public works and Minister of irrigation and Water Development. He held this last position from September 2005 until March 2009. Mia was reelected in the May 2009 general elections on the

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a centre to centre-left Taiwanese nationalist political party in Taiwan. As the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition, one of the two main political camps in Taiwan, the DPP is currently the ...

ticket. In the cabinet that became effective on 15 June 2009, he was appointed Minister of National Defense. After the cabinet reshuffle of 9 August 2010, he became Minister of Transport and Public Infrastructure. Following the death of President

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 ...

and succession 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 ...

, Sidik Mia along with 18 other colleagues of the Democratic Progressive Party announced they were to support Joyce Banda as President of the Republic. This followed the

constitutional crisis In political science, a constitutional crisis is a problem or conflict in the function of a government that the constitution, political constitution or other fundamental governing law is perceived to be unable to resolve. There are several variat ...

in which the National Governing Council of the Democratic Progress Party, of which Mia was a senior member, had resolved to contend to the Supreme Court that Joyce Banda was ineligible to succeed Mutharika as President. In January 2014 Sidik Mia resigned from the People's Party (PP) and from his cabinet post as Minister for Transport. He joined the

in 2017 and became the presidential running mate to its leader,

. Death Sidik Mia died on 12 January 2021 from Covid 19. He was laid to rest at his home in Nsanje. He is survived by his wife, MP Abida Mia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mia, Sidik 2021 deaths 1965 births Defence ministers of Malawi Government ministers of Malawi Democratic Progressive Party (Malawi) politicians Malawian politicians of Indian descent Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Malawi People from the Southern Region, Malawi Members of the National Assembly (Malawi)