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The immediate past President Dr. Joyce Banda, founder of the Joyce Banda Foundation International (JBFI) and Opposition People’s Party on Saturday, October 17, 2015, addressed university student leaders from across the United States of America who have been gathering in Washington DC under the umbrella of the National Student Leadership Forum (NSLF).
In her speech, Banda said leadership these days has been redefined at all levels such as at church, corporate and nation, where people are looking for leaders who listen to them and adequately address their aspirations.
“Gone are the days when leaders could oppress the people. If they attempt to do it; if they are locked up in the past, they are learning the hard way because the people show them the exit door; leaders are emerging even from the marketplace place; people are choosing leaders from amongst themselves,” observed Banda, adding that a ‘servant leader’ is one cares more about the people than amassing much power for themselves.
This year’s events began on Friday, October 16 and ends on Sunday, October 18, 2015.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the Office of the Former President, Banda advised the student leaders to ensure that they must draw up a ‘mission statement’, saying she had one when she was 31 years old. Banda said that choices the youth make in life today push them either forward or backward.
“My mission in life is to assist the women and youth gain social and political empowerment through entrepreneurship and education,” she said, adding that some of initiatives she has championed, based on her mission statement, have been “life-changing.”
The statement said that Banda addressed about 350 university student leaders at the Hyatt Hotel in Washington DC.
Among the student leaders, was a Malawian studying in the US, Wongani Mtika.
After her address, the former president answered a number of questions from the students on various leadership issues, including what challenges she faced as Head of State in a patriarchal set up.
She said while challenges will always be there, she enjoyed a lot of support from Malawians, particularly men, which made her life easier as a leader.
She attributed this to her ‘inclusive’ approach to leadership where took everyone on board “regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or religion”.
The NSLF is a three-day annual event that brings together a diverse group of university leaders from across the country. The NSLF program is intentionally relational. Students interact with fellow students, recent college graduates, young professionals and established adults from the political, business and social service sectors of society.
