Malawian female student wins Rhodes scholarship
Mary Jiyani, 22, has become the first Malawian female candidate to win the Rhodes scholarship to study at Oxford University in the United Kingdom (UK).
Jiyani, currently completing her law degree at the continent’s top-rated University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa, is the fifth Malawian to win the scholarship.
Previous Malawian Rhodes scholars include Charles Kapalamula in 2000, Dr Matthews Mtumbuka in 2001, Dick Kachuma in 2003 and Norbert Nthala who won the scholarship last year, breaking the long spell of approximately 10 years without any Malawian qualifying for the academic honour.
In an interview yesterday from South Africa where she is undergoing orientation, Jiyani said she was completely dazed and she could not believe what had just happened to her.
She said she intends to study the bachelor of civil law at Oxford University and then proceed into the master of philosophy in law (MPhil), particularly philosophical foundations of the common law, private law and fundamental rights as well as Roman law.
Said Jiyani: “I am driven by my passion for law. I intend to conduct research in private law and human rights and proceed into the DPhil in law at Oxford. I intend to work towards the infusion of the private law with principles of fairness and fundamental rights in order that it be better utilised as a toll to address social inequality.”
Jiyani, who said Nthala was a great inspiration to her, has also urged Malawians to apply for the scholarship, saying it is an absolutely life changing opportunity that more Malawians needs to attain.
Mtumbuka, who represents Malawi, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland on the selection panel for the Rhodes scholarships, said Jiyani was one of the six finalists shortlisted from dozens of applicants from a constituency of the five African countries.
He said Jiyani has an outstanding record both in class and in extra-curricular activities from both the UCT and Kamuzu Academy where she completed her secondary education.
The Rhodes scholarship is the oldest and perhaps the most prestigious international graduate scholarship programme in the world and a class of 89 scholars is selected each year from a cross section of countries in the world which includes Canada, China, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates and southern Africa where Malawi falls. n
