independent as Malawi later in the year. Dismissal and later career On 7 September 1964 there was a cabinet crisis, in which Chibambo and others opposed Hastings Banda. Issues included Banda's decision to charge for health services and to move slowly in Africanization of the civil service. This was coupled with a general feeling that Banda was becoming increasingly autocratic. Chibambo was dismissed from the cabinet the next day. Banda declared that the rebel leaders were traitors to the state and threats to national security. Chibambo and the others were suspended from the party, which prevented them from attending party meetings and prevented members of the party from attending their meetings, giving Banda full control of the MCP. She and her husband faced constant harassment until they fled to Zambia in 1965, where they faced the challenge of starting a new life. Rose Chibambo returned to Malawi in 1994. She became a businesswoman in Mzuzu, and was prominent in politics and church activities. She was a member of Church Action Relief Development, which assists the orphans of victims of HIV/AIDS, the Christian Service Committee, the Malawi Council of Churches and the Interdenominational Support Group for Prisoners. She died on January 12, 2016, in Mwaiwathu Private Hospital in Blantyre at age 86. Legacy In 2009 the President Bingu wa Mutharika met Rose Chibambo and honoured her, naming a street in Mzuzu City after her. As of 1 January 2012, she appears on Malawi’s 200 Kwacha banknote. References Sources Malawian women in politics Nyasaland African Congress politicians People from Mzimba District 2016 deaths 1928 births Place of birth missing 20th-century women politicians