Lazarus Chakwera

Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera (born 5 April 1955) is a Malawian politician and theologian who has served as President of Malawi and minister of defence since June 2020.

Lazarus Chakwera was born in Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi, on 5 April 1955 while the country was still under British colonial rule.

His father was a primary school teacher and supplemented his family's income through subsistence farming.

He married Monica Chakwera on October 8, 1977, and together, they have four children (one son and 3 daughters).

Chakwera graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Philosophy) Degree from the University of Malawi in 1977.

He worked as an instructor at the Assemblies of God's School of Theology from 1983 to 2000 where he became the Principal in 1996.

He has been the co-director and a lecturer at All Nations Theological Seminary.

He was President of the Malawi Assemblies of God from 1989 to 2013.

From 1989 to 2013 he presided over the Malawi Assemblies of God.

He studied theology and gained an Honours degree from the University of the North in South Africa and gained a master's degree (MTh) from the University of South Africa in 1991.

The Trinity International University in the United States awarded him a doctorate (D. Min) in 2000.

He became a professor at the Pan-Africa Theological Seminary in 2005.

He also serves as minister of defence per Malawian constitution, he has served as the leader of the Malawi Congress Party since 2013.

On 14 April 2013 he took many by surprise when he declared his intentions to run at a convention of the opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) as president while still maintaining the Assemblies of God Presidency.

Rumours of Chakwera's intention to run in the MCP's presidential race were first reported in online media on 9 April 2013.

They were confirmed on 14 April 2013.

Chakwera later submitted his nomination papers while still at the helm of the Malawi Assemblies of God.

The MCP convention slated for 27 April 2013 was later postponed to 10 and 11 August where he was elected as the president of MCP and he represented the party in the 2014 general elections.

Chakwera announced his resignation as the Head of the Malawian Assemblies of God, effective 14 May 2013.

He said this would enable him to concentrate more on front-line politics, taking the view that he was still serving God in another context.

During 2014 Malawi General elections, rumors speculated in different platforms that the elections were rigged.

Chakwera told all Malawians to remain peaceful, accept the outcome, and wait for the next coming elections.

Besides being successful as the main opposition party president, he also served as a member of parliament for the Lilongwe North West Constituency.

The Republic of Kenya's Supreme Court had been the very first to nullify in 2017, but the rerun election therefrom was never won by the opposition leader.

Soon after Chakwera's election as president, he became subject to criticism over appointing mutually related family members to cabinet.

Chakwera's 31 member cabinet announced after inauguration had six members all of whom are relatives with another member of the cabinet.

Previously, Chakwera was the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly following highly controversial elections held on 21 May 2019 which were overturned by the Constitutional Court.

He was appointed chairman of SADC on 17 August at the SADC 41st Annual Summit held on 9 August to 19 August 2021 in Lilongwe, Malawi.

This happened when Court ruled out the 2019 General elections due to massive irregularities after DPP claimed victory.

Mo Sidik Mia, Chakwera's running mate in 2019, was appointed minister of transport and public works and his wife Abida Mia the deputy minister for Lands.

Kenny Kandodo and his sister Khumbize Kandodo both occupied ministerial posts, the former being the minister for labour while the latter being the minister for health.

Similarly, Gospel Kazako became minister of information while his sister-in-law Agnes Nkusa Nkhoma became the deputy minister for agriculture.

More than 70% of the cabinet ministers were from the central region of Malawi, Chakwera's traditional stronghold.

Chakwera defended his decisions, saying that he will address concerns related to the appointments.

Chakwera joined forces with UTM leader Saulos Chilima and multiple other parties to form the 'Tonse Alliance' in preparation for the June 2020 Malawi General elections, with Chilima running as vice president.

Chakwera defeated incumbent president Peter Mutharika in the 2020 election, having obtained almost 59% of the vote.

Chakwera was sworn in as the sixth president of Malawi on 28 June.

On this occasion, Malawi became the first African Country to have its presidential election result overturned due to irregularities and an opposition leader go on to win the rerun election.

Activists and organisations working on gender equality organised public demonstrations in October 2020 protesting against gender imbalance in public service appointments that Chakwera had made.

The activists accused President Chakwera of disregarding the Malawi Gender Equality Act that demands that women should make at least 40 per cent of all public appointments.