Joe Manduwa was born in 1960 in Chimbalanga Village under Traditional Authority Dambe in Neno

Neno

Adelino Augusto da Graça Barbosa Barros, aka Neno is a retired Cape Verdean-born Portuguese footballer who played as a goalkeeper.-Club career:...

, Central Region, Malawi

Central Region, Malawi

The Central Region of Malawi, population 5,491,034 , covers an area of 35,592 km². Its capital city is Lilongwe, which is also the national capital...

. He served as a Deputy Minister and Member of Parliament 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...

. He is a Malawian politician and former Member of parliament for Mwanza East (now known as Neno South). He was a Member of parliament under the United democratic Front (Malawi) ticket. He is most remembered for advocating the legalization of 'chamba

Chamba

Chamba may refer to:*Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, city in Himachal Pradesh, India*Chamba district, Himachal Pradesh, India*Chamba State, princely state*Chamba, Uttarakhand, small town in Tehri-Garhwal district, Uttarakhand, India...

', Malawi Gold

Malawi Gold

Malawi Gold is the name given to cannabis originating in Malawi. In chichewa, it is locally known as chamba. Chamba is grown mainly in central and northern regions like Mzuzu....

. He is described as bold, frank, and rogue.

Political career

He became a Member of parliament under the United democratic Front (Malawi) ticket in 1999. He became Deputy Minister of agriculture in the Bakili Muluzi

Bakili Muluzi

Elson Bakili Muluzi is a Malawian politician. He was the President of Malawi from 1994 to 2004 and was Chairman of the United Democratic Front until 2009.-Presidency:...

 administration. He later became the Deputy Minister of Agriculture. He was replaced as Minister in 2000 due to a pending court trial and gave his duties to Ludoviko Shati. According to the Associated Foreign Press report, he was later fired from the UDF in 2002 for investigating allegations of government involvement in illegally selling tons of maize during the Malawian drought of 2002. His seat was declared vacant by Sam Mpasu but the Malawian courts ruled against the government and he remained Member of Parliament until 2004.

Legalizing Marijuana

He is most known for advocating the legalization of Marijuana in Malawian Parliament He suggested in parliament that Malawi begin to produce 'chamba

Chamba

Chamba may refer to:*Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, city in Himachal Pradesh, India*Chamba district, Himachal Pradesh, India*Chamba State, princely state*Chamba, Uttarakhand, small town in Tehri-Garhwal district, Uttarakhand, India...

' (Malawi Gold

Malawi Gold

Malawi Gold is the name given to cannabis originating in Malawi. In chichewa, it is locally known as chamba. Chamba is grown mainly in central and northern regions like Mzuzu....

) for non-medicinal use as a viable replacement for its main official export tobacco. this call was backed by Medical Doctor and Member of Parliament for Malawi Congress Party

Malawi Congress Party

The Malawi Congress Party is a political party in Malawi.It was the successor to the Nyasaland African Congress , which was banned in 1959.The MCP was founded by Hastings Banda and other NAC leaders in 1960....

, Hetherwick Ntaba

Hetherwick Ntaba

Dr. Hetherwick Ntaba is a Malawian medical doctor and politician, currently the Publicity Secretary of the Democratic Progressive Party . Ntaba was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1993 to 1994. Later, he was Secretary-General of the DPP.-References:...

.

Aphrodisiac

He has also advocated the sale and marketing of a locally made herbal aphrodisiac as an export in order to lift the nation out of poverty.

Maize Scandal

While he was the chairman of a 19 member Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, he was involved in investigating a maize scandal that was blamed for the Malawi's 2002 food crisis. He was charged with investigating the illegal sale of more than 160,000 tonnes of maize from the strategic grain reserves in the midst of the 2002 severe drought and famine which left the country with a 600,000-tonne food shortfall. 2 million Malawians faced starvation due to this sale. Manduwa was fired over this investigation a few weeks before he was set to present the findings of the report to parliament without an explanation.Manduwa noted that "This is a move to block me from investigating some top people who are involved, whom we have uncovered,". His dismissal was later reversed in court and he continued to serve in thie role until 2004 when he lost re -lection as an independent.