Our first ever international feature was Chikondi Mandala from Malawi! Our episode this week walks us through Chikondi’s journey being the youngest judicial officer in Malawi history. Chikondi holds an LLB from the University of Malawi and an LL.M from Harvard Law School, which she attended as a Fulbright scholar. Chikondi is the youngest magistrate in the history of Malawi, , focusing on access of justice for women with the Women Judges Association of Malawi. Chikondi is also currently working for the advancement of rights of incarcerated persons with the Centre of Human Rights, as the Legal Research Lead at The Gender and Justice Unit.
Chikondi gives us a glimpse into the life of a judicial officer in Malawi, battling (and overcoming) the generalisation of equating youth with a lack of experience or achievement, the drive to pursue a judicial career, global female representation in judiciaries, and exploring how education plays a major role in gender sensitivity and eventually equality. Chikondi also shed light on cases she’s worked on and the collateral pressure in her line of work. We learn about women that inspire her, her favourite way to unwind and her best memories from Harvard.
We hope you enjoyed hearing about the journey of a lawyer from a different jurisdiction. Let us know which other countries you’d like us to feature lawyers from, in the comments below! Link in bio.
