For just the second time in the history of Africa, and the first time in Malawi, a woman has been sworn in as president.

ABC News reports Joyce Banda, 61, who had been the country’s vice president, took peaceful possession of the office in a ceremony in parliament over the weekend, following the death of President Bingu wa Mutharika, 78, from cardiac arrest on April 5.

Banda’s ascent, though called for by Malawi's constitution, was uncertain, according to the network, because she had formed her own political party after a “falling out” with Mutharika in 2010.

A champion of women’s rights and education, Banda, who is married to a retired chief justice and whose sister was hired by Madonna to run a girls' school in Malawi that later failed, will head one of the world’s poorest countries, ABC reports.

Here’s hoping a woman can help turn things around.

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