Professor Peter Nelson Mwanza (born May 1937) is a

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 ...

an politician. He was appointed Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development in the government 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 ...

on 17 June 2009. He was reassigned to become Minister of Agriculture and Food Security in a cabinet reshuffle on 9 August 2010.

Birth and education

Peter N. Mwanza was born in May 1937 in

Mzimba Mzimba is a town in the Mzimba District of Malawi. The district is inhabited by descendants of Tumbuka and few Ngoni people. The district of Mzimba has a number of Traditional Authorities from the Ngoni people. The head of these Traditional A ...

, Malawi, the youngest of a family of five. He attended the University of London in the early 1960s, where he obtain a BSc degree in biology. He then held a position as a research scientist in Entomology with the Ministry of Agriculture in Malawi for one year. He left this job after obtaining a

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

International Fellowship to pursue advanced studies in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, attending

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

and earning Masters and PhD degrees in Microbiology.

Academic career

Returning to Malawi in 1966, Mwanza became a lecturer at the newly established

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, ...

. He was eventually promoted to become the first Malawian Principal of Chancellor College. In this position, he integrated the Mpemba School of Administration and Law and the Soche Hill College of Education into Chancellor College, and arranged for the college to relocate from

Blantyre Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, L ...

to Zomba. He was instrumental on the establishment of the National Research Council of Malawi in 1974. In 1979, Mwanza joined the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

as Director of Natural Resources, Environment and Science and Technology Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Mwanza retired from the UN in 1996, and assisted in establishing

Mzuzu University Mzuzu University is one of the principal universities of Malawi. The school is located in Mzuzu, in the northern region of Malawi. It was founded in 1997 and accepted its first students in 1999. At the time the university opened its doors, the Cha ...

. He was Chairman of the University Council, and later Vice Chancellor. He also became Chairman of the Malawi Environmental and Endowment Trust, which he helped establish.

Political career

Mzanza was elected to parliament as representative for Mzuzu-City. In May 2009, he was selected by president

to become a cabinet Minister, expected to get the Education portfolio. However, he was given the ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development. In a cabinet shuffle of 9 August 2010 he was reassigned to become Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, a job previously held by the President. Margaret Roka Mauwa continued in her role as Deputy Minister of the department.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mwanza, Peter Living people Government ministers of Malawi 1937 births Ohio State University alumni Alumni of the University of London University of Malawi faculty 21st-century Malawian politicians