Joana Rosa

Rosa was born in the parish of Nossa Senhora da Luz, on the island of Maio, where she completed her primary education. She attended secondary school in the country's capital of Praia. She obtained a law degree from the Fluminense Federal University in Niterói, Brazil and followed this with a postgraduate degree in banking law from the Institute of Legal Cooperation of the University of Lisbon. She took a course in administration at the National Administration School (CENFA) in Guinea-Bissau, and obtained a master's degree in governance and administration from the National Institute of Administration in Lisbon.^[1][2]

Rosa initially worked as a lawyer and a legal advisor. In 1994 and 1995 she was director of the cabinet of the minister of agriculture. In 1995, she became the first woman to run for mayor in Cape Verde. While not succeeding to be elected in Maio, she was elected president of the island of São Vicente for two terms. She was elected as a deputy in the Cape Verdean parliament for the first time in 2006 and since then she has held several positions in the parliament. She was vice-president of the 2010 Constitutional Review Commission and of the Legal Affairs Committee. In 2020 she was elected as leader of the majority Movement for Democracy Party (MfD) in parliament, winning 28 of the 34 votes cast, having previously served as vice-president. She was appointed as the country's minister of justice in May 2021, following the 2021 parliamentary elections.^[2][3][4][5]