Patricia Shanil Muluzi MP (born Patricia Fukulani) is the former
First Lady of Malawi and wife of former President
Bakili Muluzi
Elson Bakili Muluzi (born March 17, 1943 in Machinga, Nyasaland) is a Malawian politician who was the first freely elected president of Malawi from 1994 to 2004. He was also chairman of the United Democratic Front (UDF) until 2009. He succeeded ...
.
Muluzi was born in Malawi on September 25, 1964.
Her family, David and Sylvia Fukulani were from the Chimpikizo Village in the Traditional Authority Nsamala in Balaka district.
About
Wedding
Although the couple had been married in 1987 and when Muluzi was running for Presidency, she lived secretly and out of the public eye. After
Bakili Muluzi
Elson Bakili Muluzi (born March 17, 1943 in Machinga, Nyasaland) is a Malawian politician who was the first freely elected president of Malawi from 1994 to 2004. He was also chairman of the United Democratic Front (UDF) until 2009. He succeeded ...
became president in 1994, she lived in a presidential residence near Zomba.
She made her first public appearance a day before the wedding.
The wedding held place in Malawi on October 9, 1999. The Muluzis' lavish public wedding caused much criticism due to the President's economic policies had led to a downturn in the economy. It included 3,000 guests.
Guests included Presidents
Robert Mugabe of
Zimbabwe,
Frederick Chiluba of
Zambia,
Joaquim Chissano of
Mozambique,
Pierre Buyoya of Burundi and
King Mswati III
Mswati III (born Makhosetive; 19 April 1968) is the king (Swazi: Ngwenyama, Ingwenyama yemaSwati) of Eswatini and head of the Swazi royal family. He was born in Manzini in the Protectorate of Swaziland to King Sobhuza II and one of his younger w ...
of
Swaziland
Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...
.
During the wedding 29 cows were slaughtered. Free beer, food and live music were made available in several hotels at state cost. The wedding is estimated to have cost 15m kwacha ($335,000). The head of the wedding committee, Dumiso Mulani, noted though that the president had spent some 5m
kwacha of his own money. The opposition however, boycotted the event, and many mailed back their invitations in what
Heatherwick Ntaba, secretary of the
Malawi Congress Party and
Alliance for Democracy group called "the plunder of public money".
Family
She has five children with
Bakili Muluzi
Elson Bakili Muluzi (born March 17, 1943 in Machinga, Nyasaland) is a Malawian politician who was the first freely elected president of Malawi from 1994 to 2004. He was also chairman of the United Democratic Front (UDF) until 2009. He succeeded ...
, twins, Carlucci and Edna born in 1988, followed by Zake born in 1989 and then Lucy born in 1990, finally with Tiyamike born in 1992. She was married to Muluzi in 1987 and became his second wife. As Muslims, Muluzi was married to
Annie Muluzi at the time they got married and they were in a polygamous marriage arrangement. She became the second First Lady when Muluzi was elected president. Muluzi divorced his first wife, and the official First Lady, though in 1999 and remarried Patricia Muluzi in a lavish symbolic public
nikkha ceremony that was criticized due to its cost in order to make her the official First Lady of Malawi. In 2011, Shanil announced that she was ending her marriage due to undisclosed reasons.
Career
She was a former school teacher. In 2019, Patricia Shanil Muluzi ran to win parliament seats, however failed in the parliamentary race in Lilongwe.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muluzi, Patricia Shanil
Living people
First ladies and gentlemen of Malawi
Malawian women in politics
Year of birth missing (living people)