Vera Kamtukule 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 author, writer, publisher, activist and politician, who holds a ministerial position 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 ...

. Vera Kamtukule was appointed minister of Tourism on 31 January 2023. Until her appointment Vera served as the Minister Labour since 26 January 2022 and as deputy Minister of Labour following the

2020 Malawian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Malawi on 23 June 2020, having originally been scheduled for 19 May and later 2 July. They followed the annulment of the results of the 2019 presidential elections, in which Peter Mutharika of the Democratic ...

. In 2021 Vera Kamtukule assumed her role as Chair of the SADC Employment and Labour Sector.

Early life and education

Vera Kamtukule was born on 31 December 1981 in the township of Zingwangwa,

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 ...

Southern Region, Malawi The Southern Region of Malawi is an area of Malawi. It covers an area of 31,753 km². Its capital city is Lilongwe. In 2018, its population was 7,750,629. Of the 28 districts in Malawi, 13 are located within the Southern Region. They are: ...

. She went to school in Zingwangwa Secondary School, where she was selected to go and study for her college degree at 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, ...

Chancellor College 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, ...

. She later on went to study for her Master of Science Degree in Strategic Management obtained from the

University of Derby , mottoeng = Experience is the best teacher , established = 1851 – Teacher Training College1992 – gained university status , type = Public , chancellor = William Cavendish, Ear ...

, UK. Vera holds a professional diploma in marketing and a post graduate diploma in land management. Currently she is studying for her

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in Transformative Community Development at the

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 ...

. She was the chief executive officer for Malawi Scotland Partnership until her ministerial appointment.

Publications

In 2013 Vera Kamtukule wrote a book titled "The Supply and Demand of Housing in Malawi" which was published by

Lambert Academic Publishing Omniscriptum Publishing Group, formerly known as VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, is a German publishing company, publishing group headquartered in Riga, Riga, Latvia. Founded in 2002 in Düsseldorf, its book production is based on print on demand, prin ...

. In 2020 one of her books ''Made to Bloom'' won the African Authors Award. Kamtukule has since published other five books, ''More Than A Pastor's Wife'', ''The Professional Woman'', ''The Absalomic Loss'', ''41 Things That Destroy Good Women'' and ''29 Things that Destroy Good Men''.

Personal life

Vera Kamtukule is married to Edson Kamtukule, together they have two daughters.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kamtukule, Vera Living people University of Malawi alumni Alumni of the University of Derby Women government ministers of Malawi 21st-century women politicians 21st-century Malawian writers Malawian expatriates in the United Kingdom 21st-century Malawian politicians Malawian women writers People from Blantyre 1981 births