Patricia Shanil Dzimbiri (formerly Patricia Shanil Muluzi and Shanil Muluzi, ; 25 September 1964 – 10 June 2024) was a Malawian politician, teacher, and First Lady of Malawi from 1999 until 2004 as the then-wife of former President

Bakili Muluzi Elson Bakili Muluzi (born 17 March 1943) is a Malawian politician who was President of Malawi from 1994 to 2004. He was also chairman of the United Democratic Front (UDF) until 2009. He succeeded Hastings Kamuzu Banda as Malawi's president. He al ...

. She later represented the Balaka West Constituency in the

National Assembly of Malawi The National Assembly of Malawi is the supreme legislative body of the nation. It is situated on Capital Hill, Lilongwe along Presidential Way. The National Assembly alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other ...

from 2014 to 2019.

Early and personal life

Dzimbiri was born Patricia Fukulani in the village of Chimpikizo, Traditional Authority Nsamala,

Balaka District Balaka is a Districts of Malawi, district in the Southern Region, Malawi, Southern Region of Malawi. The capital is Balaka Township, Malawi, Balaka. The district covers an area of 2,140 km.² and has a population of 438,379. The district's p ...

, Malawi, on 25 September 1964. She was the seventh child born to David and Sylvia Fukulani, a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

couple from Chimpikizo. Dzimbiri described herself as a "staunch

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

" in a 2014 interview with ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

'' newspaper.

Marriage

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

became president in 1994, she lived in a presidential residence near Zomba. She made her first public appearance a day before the couple's second wedding. Their second wedding took place in Malawi on 9 October 1999. Their lavish public wedding caused much criticism because the President's economic policies had led to a downturn in the economy. It included 3,000 guests, including Presidents

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of th ...

of Zimbabwe,

Frederick Chiluba Frederick Jacob Titus Chiluba (30 April 1943 – 18 June 2011) was a Zambian politician who was the second president of Zambia from 1991 to 2002. Chiluba, a trade union leader, won the country's multi-party presidential election in 1991 as th ...

of Zambia,

Joaquim Chissano Joaquim Alberto Chissano (born 22 October 1939) is a Mozambican politician who served as the second President of Mozambique, from 1986 to 2005. He is credited with transforming the war-torn country of Mozambique into a successful African democra ...

of Mozambique,

Pierre Buyoya Pierre Buyoya (24 November 1949 – 17 December 2020) was a Burundian army officer and politician who served two terms as President of Burundi in 1987 to 1993 and 1996 to 2003. He was the second-longest-serving president in Burundian history. An ...

of Burundi, and

King Mswati III Mswati III (born Makhosetive Dlamini; 19 April 1968) is the ''Ngwenyama'' (King) of Eswatini and head of the Swazi royal family. He heads an absolute monarchy, as he has veto power over all branches of government and is constitutionally immune ...

of Swaziland. During the wedding, 29 cows were slaughtered. Free beer, food, and live music were made available in several hotels at cost to the state. The wedding was estimated to have cost 15 million kwacha ($335,000). The head of the wedding committee, Dumiso Mulani, noted that the president had spent some five million kwacha of his own money. The opposition, however, boycotted the event, and many mailed back their invitations in what

Hetherwick Ntaba Dr. Hetherwick Ntaba is a Malawian medical doctor and politician, and former Publicity Secretary of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Ntaba was Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated a ...

, secretary of the

Malawi Congress Party The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) is a 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 Hastings Banda, pre ...

and Alliance for Democracy called "the plunder of public money".

Family

Muluzi had five children with

, 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 Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, 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.

Political career

Following her divorce from Muluzi, she utilized her

maiden name When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the family name of their spouse, in some countries and cultures that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("birth name" ...

, Patricia Shanil Dzimbiri, rather than her former husband's last name. Dzimbiri was a schoolteacher. In 2014, Dzimbiri was elected to the

, representing Balaka West, as an

independent candidate An independent politician or non-affiliated politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have polit ...

, defeating five other candidates for the seat. She was sworn into office on 9 June 2014 at the New Parliament Building in

Lilongwe Lilongwe (, ,) is the capital and largest city of Malawi. It has a population of 989,318 as of the 2018 Census, up from a population of 674,448 in 2008. In 2020, that figure was 1,122,000. The city is located in the central region of Malawi, i ...

. Dzimbiri lost her 2019 re-election bid in Balaka West to Bertha Ndebele of the

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a centre to centre-left Taiwanese nationalist political party in Taiwan. As the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition, one of the two main political camps in Taiwan, the DPP is currently the ...

. In July 2018, Dzimbiri became director of women for the newly established

United Transformation Movement The United Transformation Movement (UTM) is a political party in Malawi founded by Saulos Chilima. History On 21 July 2018, Saulos Chilima launched his transformation movement called United Transformation Movement (UTM) towards formation of h ...

party (UTM). She also worked as the personal advisor on women's affairs to

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

Saulos Chilima Saulos Klaus Chilima (12 February 1973 – 10 June 2024) was a Malawian economist and politician who served as Vice President of Malawi from 2014 to 2019 and again from 2020 until his death in 2024. Chilima assumed office on 28 June 2020, winn ...

from 2020 until her death in June 2024.

Death

On 10 June 2024, Dzimbiri was among nine people who disappeared after an aircraft carrying Vice-President

disappeared from radar in

Chikangawa Forest Reserve Chikangawa Forest Reserve is a protected area in Chikangawa, Northern Malawi. It was established in 1948 and covers 1147.8 square kilometers. The forest is mainly composed of exotic pine trees. It is home to the Viphya Plantation, which was est ...

Mzimba District Mzimba is a district in the Northern Region of Malawi. The capital is Mzimba and the biggest town is Mzuzu, which is also the administrative headquarters of the Northern Region. The district covers an area of 10,473 km2 and has a populatio ...

while on their way to attend the funeral of former government minister

Ralph Kasambara Raphael Kasambara (26 September 1969 – 7 June 2024) was a Malawian lawyer, jurist, academic and convicted criminal who served as the Minister of Justice and Attorney General. He served twice as Attorney General under the administration of Pre ...

, prompting a search and rescue operation. Their aircraft was found to have crashed the next day, with authorities confirming the deaths of Muluzi and everyone else on board. She was buried on 14 June in Chimpikizo following a memorial ceremony that was attended by former presidents Bakili Muluzi and

Joyce Banda Joyce Hilda Banda (née Ntila; born 12 April 1950) is a Malawi, Malawian politician, who served as List of heads of state of Malawi, President of Malawi, from 7 April 2012 to 31 May 2014. Banda took office as President following the sudden deat ...

References