Jane Ngineriwa Kambalame is Malawi's current High Commissioner to Zimbabwe and Botswana. [1] [2] Prior to this appointment she served in the Malawi mission to the United States of America and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Malawi. [3]
Ms. Kambalame obtained her bachelor's degree in Public Administration from the University of Malawi. [3] She obtained her master's degree in International Policy and Diplomacy from University of Staffordshire at Stoke-on-Trent. [3] She then entered the Malawi foreign service as a foreign service officer. In 2004, she served as a diplomat in the United States. In 2013, she replaced Dr. Richard Phoya as High Commissioner to Zimbabwe and Botswana. [4]
She is a strong supporter of NGOs working with women and children in Malawi. [3] Whilst in the United States, she served as a board member of the Malawi Washington Association.
In 2016 Kambalame was found guilty in a default judgment of human trafficking after having brought a housemaid from Malawi, called Fainess Lipenga, confining her for three years in a house basement. Kambalame obliged Lipenga to work from 5am to 11pm for $100–180 per month. While Kambalame was found guilty of this human trafficking through a default judgment, it's important to remember that this means Kambalame did not respond to the charges, and therefore their side of the story was never presented or heard in court. This doesn't diminish the seriousness of the crime, but it does highlight that the judgment was made based solely on the evidence presented against them. [5]