Abbie Marambika Shaba is a politician who was appointed Minister of Development Planning and Cooperation in June 2009 in the cabinet

Cabinet of Malawi

The Cabinet of Malawi is the executive branch of the government, made up of the President, Vice-President and Ministers and Deputy Ministers responsible for the different departments.The current ruling party is the Democratic Progressive Party...

 of Malawi

Malawi

The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...

.

Abbie Shaba was born in 1958. He attended the University of Reading

University of Reading

The University of Reading is a university in the English town of Reading, Berkshire. The University was established in 1892 as University College, Reading and received its Royal Charter in 1926. It is based on several campuses in, and around, the town of Reading.The University has a long tradition...

 in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, where he obtained an MA degree in Rural Social Development.
He worked in the Civil Service for many years, mainly in the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Community Services, rising to the position of Director of Social Planning. Between 2000 and 2004, he worked as a Program Manager for the Catholic Relief services.

Shaba was elected Member of Parliament for Mzimba

Mzimba

Mzimba is a town in the Mzimba District of Malawi. The district comprises descendants of Tumbuka and Ngoni peoples.The district of Mzimba comprises a number of Traditional Authorities from the Ngoni people. The head of these Traditional Authorities, or Paramount Chief , is M'Mbelwa IV.-Demographics:...

 East Constituency in May 2004.
He was elected on the Republican Party

Republican Party (Malawi)

The Republican Party is a political party in Malawi.At the general elections of 20 May 2004 its candidate for president won 25.7% of the vote, and the party was part of the Mgwirizano Coalition, which won 27 out of 194 seats....

 ticket.
On 15 June 2007 the Republican Party leader in Parliament, David Faiti, petitioned Speaker Louis Chimango

Louis Chimango

Louis Joseph Chimango was Speaker of the National Assembly of Malawi June 2005-June 2009. A member of the Malawi Congress Party, he represents the Lilongwe Mpenu Nkhoma constituency...

 to declare Shawa's seat and eight others vacant. His reason was that the MPs had joined the Democratic Progressive Party

Democratic Progressive Party (Malawi)

The Democratic Progressive Party is the ruling political party in Malawi. The party was formed in February 2005 by Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika after a dispute with the United Democratic Front....

(DPP) by attending DPP caucuses and sitting on the government side in Parliament.
Shaba was Deputy Leader of Government backbenchers from 2007 to 2009.
He was reelected for Mzimba East in May 2009.
He was appointed Minister of Development Planning and Cooperation on 15th June 2009.
He retained this position in the reshuffled cabinet announced on 9 August 2010.