As condolence messages continue to pour in over the death of Malawi’s first Cabinet Minister Rose Chibambo, former President Dr. Joyce Banda has described Chibambo as her ‘Role Model’, saying Malawians should celebrate her death.

Chibambo died this week at Mwaiwathu Private Hospital in the commercial capital Blantyre where she was admitted and she was 86.

In n statement made available to FaceofMalawi, Banda said she was deeply shocked with the death of Chibambo.

“I have learned with shock the death of Mrs. Rose Chibambo. As far as I am concerned she was a ‘Heroine’. She was my ‘Role Model’ since I was very young.

“Rose Chibambo was one of four women who were arrested, tried, sentenced and sent to prison in the 1960s. Her crime was the fight against the minority White rule and colonialism,” said Banda.

She added: “In 2009, the late President Bingu wa Mutharika charged me with the responsibility of liaising with Mrs. Chibambo when he wanted to name a road in her honor in Mzuzu. After the afternoon event at the road site, there was a celebration dinner at Mzuzu Hotel where I was present and spoke on behalf of our late President.

“This event provided me with a rare opportunity to chat with her and learn more from her about her political life. She told me that when she went to prison, she was breastfeeding. Being a mother myself, It was difficult for me to comprehend how she could give up so much for our sake.”

Banda said after the country got Independence in 1964 and Rose Chibambo being one of the Cabinet Ministers, she used to stand outside Parliament in Zomba just to watch Rose Chibambo enter Parliament.

“A few months after her appointment and following the infamous 1964 cabinet crisis she and her husband had to leave Malawi to go and live in Zambia. Unfortunately her children had to remain behind. Most tragic was the death of her husband a few years later in Zambia.

“I have lived to admire the courage of Mrs. Rose Chibambo. Her faith, her capacity to love and her ability to forgive have inspired me. She was a woman who sacrificed so much for Malawi’s freedom,” said Banda.

Added Banda: “As we mourn the death of this extraordinary woman, I ask all Malawians to also celebrate her life. We should thank God for this precious gift that He gave to our nation.”

Meanwhile the burial day has been shifted to Saturday where President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika will be in attendance.