Ken Kandodo is a Financial Manager, MP and politician who was appointed

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

's Minister of Labour in July 2020, following the 2020 presidential elections. Ken Kandodo was relieved from his ministerial position in April of 2021 following the fraudulent use of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

funds. Ken Kandodo also served as Malawi's

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

from 15 June 2009 to 8 September 2011, due to the reshuffle in 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 January 31, 2023 A new cabinet was appointed on J ...

. Kandodo is a grand nephew of former president

Hastings Banda Hastings Kamuzu Banda (1898 – 25 November 1997) was the Prime Minister of Malawi, prime minister and later President of Malawi, president of Malawi from 1964 to 1994 (from 1964 to 1966, Malawi was an independent Dominion / Commonwealth realm) ...

.On 18 April 2021, Ken Kandodo was fired from his ministerial post due to mismanagement of COVID-19 funds. He is a

Chewa Chewa may refer to: *the Chewa people *the Chewa language Chewa (also known as Nyanja, ) is a Bantu language spoken in much of Southern, Southeast and East Africa, namely the countries of Malawi , where it is an official language, and Mozambiq ...

from the midlands of Malawi.

Early life and career

He attended the

University of Malawi The University of Malawi (UNIMA) is a public university established in 1965 and until 4 May 2021, when the university underwent a delinking, was composed of four constituent colleges located in Zomba, Blantyre, and Lilongwe. Of the four colleges, ...

, graduating in 1983 with a BSc in Social Science, majoring in economics. He attended the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, where he obtained an MBA degree in Finance. He worked as an Auditor with

KPMG KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations. Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a net ...

for ten years in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, Malawi and

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. He was appointed a lead Consultant for

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

, holding this position for six years. He was UNICEF's Lead Consultant in a project in Mozambique to develop financial systems for managing the HIV/AIDS Common Fund. Before being elected to parliament, Kandodo was Chairperson of the Lilongwe Water Board and the National Food Reserve Agency.

Political career

Kandodo became a senior member of the

Malawi Congress Party The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) is a politics of Malawi, 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 H ...

. In 2006 he joined the

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a Taiwanese nationalist and centre-left political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Controlling both the Republic of China presidency and the unicameral Legislative Yuan, it is the majori ...

. Kandodo was elected Member of Parliament for Kasungu Central in May 2009. He was appointed

on 15 June 2009, replacing

Goodall Gondwe Goodall Edward Gondwe (born 1 December 1936) is a Malawian economist who served in the cabinet of Malawi as Minister of Finance from 2014 to 2019. Previously he was Minister of Finance from 2004 to 2009, Minister of Local Government from 2009 to 2 ...

. Ken Kandodo introduced the unpopular

Zero Deficit Budget The Zero Deficit Budget (ZDB) is a financial strategy laid out by Minister of Finance Ken Kandodo of Malawi under the Bingu wa Mutharika administration that is based on zero-based budgeting.http://www.trademarksa.org/news/zero-deficit-budget-puzzle ...

in Malawi in 2011 under 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 Demo ...

administration. This was an unpopular bill during a time of economic crisis in Malawi that lead to unprecedented levels of fuel shortage, forex exchange and general economic mismanagement. This led to the nationwide economic based July, 20th 2011 Malawi protests. Kandodo was replaced after 2 months after the protests by

Ken Lipenga Ken Diston Lipenga (born 14 February 1952) is a Malawian 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 w ...

as part of the Cabinet reshuffle that occurred on 8 September 2011.

Philanthropy

He is sponsor of the Ken Kandodo Trophy, which presents awards to soccer and netball teams in and around

Kasungu Kasungu is a town in the Kasungu District of the Central Region of Malawi. The population of Kasungu was 58,653 according to the 2018 census. Kasungu is approximately north-west of the capital of Malawi, Lilongwe, and is east of Kasungu N ...

Personal

In 1991, he married

Monica Kandodo Monica may refer to: People *Monica (actress) (born 1987), Indian film actress *Monica (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Monica (singer) (born 1980), American R&B singer, songwriter, producer, ...

(née Chavula) a chartered quantity surveyor and have two daughters together, namely Esnath and Matilda Kandodo. His cousin,

Jane Dzanjalimodzi Jane may refer to: * Jane (given name), a feminine given name * Jane (surname), related to the given name Film and television * ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd * ''Jane'' (2016 film), a South Korean drama fi ...

, was appointed First Secretary to the Malawi Mission in Egypt in November 2010. He reported having contracted

on 22 December 2020. He later recovered.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kandodo, Ken Living people Finance ministers of Malawi Government ministers of Malawi Year of birth missing (living people)