Maria das Neves Ceita Baptista de Sousa (born 1958) served as the 11th

prime minister of São Tomé and Príncipe A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

. She was a key figure in the Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe-Social Democratic Party (MLSTP-PSD) and became the first woman head of government in the country.

Career

Maria das Neves received education as an economist in Cuba with specialization in public finances. Before becoming

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...

, Maria das Neves worked as a

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

in the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...

, in the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). She married and when her two daughters had grown up, she held major government posts: Minister of

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

(1999–2001), Minister of

Finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

2001/02 and Minister of

Trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

, Industry, and

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

(2002). In 2001 Fradique de Menezes was elected President with support of the Centre Party. But there was no clear majority in parliament, and the result was an unstable cohabitation with a number of short-lived cabinets headed by the opposition. A three party coalition was formed under the socialist Gabriel Costa and das Neves was member of the government.

Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe

She held the post of Prime Minister from 7 October 2002 until 18 September 2004, and was the nation's first

female Female (Venus symbol, symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ovum, ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the Sperm, male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gamet ...

head of government. President

Fradique de Menezes Fradique Bandeira Melo de Menezes (born March 21, 1942) is a São Toméan politician who was the third president of São Tomé and Príncipe from 2001 to 2011. Early life Menezes was born on the then Portuguese colony of São Tomé in 1942, the s ...

appointed das Neves as Prime Minister after the three-party Government of National Unity led by Gabriel Costa collapsed following complaints from the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

over recent promotions. The country was in a difficult situation, being heavily indebted and dependent on aid. There were disagreements and power struggles. When an oil agreement was signed with Nigeria, there was a military coup on 16 July 2003. The President was abroad and the army and mercenaries took action, arresting das Neves and other government officials. The coup leaders complained about corruption and said that the forthcoming oil revenues would not be distributed fairly. Following international pressure, an agreement was reached and Menezes reinstated after a week. das Neves was hospitalized after suffering a mild

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

. She resigned as Prime Minister, but accepted to continue when President Menezes reaffirmed his confidence in her.Jensen, Jane S. (2008) "Maria das Neves" in ''Women Political Leaders – breaking the highest glass ceiling'', New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, , p. 58; Skard (2014), pp. 299–300 President Menezes dismissed her from the post on 15 September 2004 and asked her party to choose a new Prime Minister, after allegations of corruption were brought against her and members of her government. She denied participating in any corrupt practices. Three days after her dismissal, a new government led by

Damião Vaz d'Almeida Damião Vaz d'Almeida (born 28 April 1951) served as the 12th prime minister of São Tomé and Príncipe and the vice-president of the Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe-Social Democratic Party (MLSTP-PSD). He became Prime Mi ...

was sworn in. Das Neves was elected an alternate to parliament and became an MP.

Afterwards

Maria das Neves is a member of the

Council of Women World Leaders The Council of Women World Leaders, created in 1996, is a network of 83 current and former presidents and prime ministers. It is the only organization in the world dedicated to women heads of state and government. The council's Ministerial Initia ...

, an international network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers, whose mission is to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development.

Career

Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe

Afterwards

References

Further reading

News articles