Tujilane Chizumila

Tujilane Rose Chizumila (born 14 May 1953) is a Malawian lawyer and jurist who was appointed to the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights for a six-year term in 2017. Early life and education Chizumila was born on 14 May 1953 in Zomba, Malawi. Her father, George Michongwe, was a senior civil servant who was assigned to the Malawi Delegation at the United Nations in New York in 1964. After the Cabinet Crisis of 1964 in Malawi, the family fled into exile in 1966, settling as refugees in Tanzania. She has a bachelor's degree in law from the University of Dar es Salaam, and a master's degree in International Law, obtained in Germany. Career Chizumila and her two sons returned to Malawi in 1988, where she worked for Save the Children for eighteen months while waiting for a security clearance because she was the child of a "rebel." She was then directed by Hastings Banda to report to the Minister of Justice as a State Advocate. She was later the first woman to establish a law firm in Malawi. In 2000, Chizumila was appointed as Malawi's High Commissioner to Zimbabwe. She was appointed as a judge of the High Court of Malawi in 2003 by President Bakili Muluzi. Her publication, "A widow's perspective - a personal experience" led to the enactment of a law making property grabbing an offence in Malawi.