Malawi News

Cunima Vice Chancellor Ngeyi Kanyongolo dies

Cunima Vice Chancellor Ngeyi Kanyongolo dies

By Isaac Salima:

Vice Chancellor of the Catholic University of Malawi (Cunima), Ngeyi Kanyongolo, has died.

Kanyongolo passed away Monday after being bedridden for approximately two weeks.

Some senior officials at the university confirmed the news.

They said Kanyongolo died at Mwaiwathu Private Hospital in Blantyre.

Cunima’s assistant registrar, Jimmy Kayange, confirmed Monday that he had heard the news but was awaiting official communication from the school management.

Kanyongolo was also serving as the chairperson of the Airtel Malawi Board at the time of her death.

She was the wife of retired Professor of Law at the University of Malawi, Edge Kanyongolo, and was inaugurated as Cunima’s Vice-Chancellor last month.

She previously served in various positions at the University of Malawi, where she rose to become a professor and the Dean of the Faculty of Law.

Meanwhile, tributes have been pouring in since the news of Kanyongolo’s death was announced.

Writing on his Facebook page, renowned lawyer and former president of the Malawi Law Society (MLS), Khumbo Soko, poetically noted that if her passion for her work was anything to go by and if her commitment to going the extra mile in teaching was anything to go by, Kanyongolo truly found her calling.

“But not only was she passionate about her academic work; she loved her profession dearly, too. Ask any of the men who have served as president of [MLS] and they will tell you that her contributions to the profession were exemplary.

“Be it in crafting our strategic plans or in helping to organise our conferences, she was fully engaged long before the law made participation in these activities mandatory,” Soko said of Kanyongolo.

The National Planning Commission (NPC), of which Kanyongolo was a member of its board of policy an programmes until her death, also mourned her passing.

Writing on its Facebook page, NPC said: “Our heartfelt condolences go to the family, the Catholic University of Malawi, the University of Malawi and various other institutions where she diligently served.”

Several lawyers also took to social media platforms to mourn Kanyongolo’s passing, with many praising her dedication to teaching.