Time To Adapt

Before joining frontline politics, Chakwera was President of the Malawi Assemblies of God from 1989 until he resigned on May 14, 2013 to contest in the 2014 General Elections as a presidential candidate for the Malawi Congress party. That presidential election was marred by irregularities forcing the Electoral Commission to petition the High Court for permission to conduct a manual audit of the ballots. Though Chakwera was supportive of the audit, his rival, Arthur Peter Mutharika of Democratic Progressive Party took an injunction to stop it forcing the Commission to announce the results. Mutharika was declared winner by 8.6 percent margin. Following the declaration, Chakwera announced that he would not challenge the results to give Mutharika a chance to prove himself in the highest office. In the meantime, Chakwera won a parliamentary seat and became the Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly.

He served as Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly until February 2019 when he submitted his nomination papers to the Electoral Commission for the second time to run for presidential election in the May 21, 2019 elections. The elections were highly contested and marred by irregularities. The Commission used widespread correction fluid on results sheets. Despite complaints and accusations about the irregularities, the Commission declared Mutharika winner by a margin of 3.1 percent. However, on the day that Mutharika was inaugurated for a second term, Chakwera announced his decision to challenge the election result.

He and State Vice President Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima filed a petition to the Constitutional Court demanding a fresh presidential election. After a six-month hearing, the five-judge panel of the court unanimously nullified the 2019 presidential election on account of “massive, serious, and widespread irregularities” that violated multiple provisions of the Constitution and laws governing elections.

The court ordered that a fresh poll be held within 150 days of the ruling, but President Mutharika appealed the judgment to the Supreme Court, which unanimously upheld the decision of the lower court. At the end of the election which took place on June 23, 2020, under the oversight of a newly constituted Electoral Commission, Chakwera won with 58.57 percent of the vote. Chakwera was born on the rural outskirts of Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi on April 5, 1955 to Earnest Person Chakwera and Mallen Mwale, who were subsistence farmers.

Their home was typical rural, without electricity or running water or privileges of any kind. Their poor surroundings exposed the children to sickness so regularly that two of Chakwera’s brothers born before him died in infancy. His father named him Lazarus to express his faith that he would defy the odds and live long as the Bible character who was raised from the dead. He has a sister and a brother. Chakwera is married to Monica and together they have four children and 12 grandchildren.

In 1977, the year they were married, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Philosophy) Degree from the University of Malawi. He got his honors degree from the University of the North, Sovenga, South Africa. In 1991, he got his masters from the University of South Africa. The Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois, USA awarded him a doctorate in 2000. The Pan Africa Theological Seminary awarded him Professorship in 2005. He has served in a number of roles of executive leadership both in Malawi and internationally: He was Chairman of the Evangelical Association of Malawi (EAM) 1997-2014; Board Chairman for All Nations Theological Seminary 2008-2013; Board Member of the Global University, Springfield, Missouri, USA, 1999 – 2005.

He was also Board Chairman of the Pan Africa Theological Seminary (PATHS) 2004 – 2014; Chairman of Assoc. of Pentecostal Theological Education in Africa (APTEA) - 2011-2014; President of Africa Assemblies of God Alliance (2004-2013); Secretary of World Assemblies of God Fellowship (2005-2017); co-chair of the Facilitation Team created to resolve the Budget and Section 65 Parliamentary impasse between Cabinet and Opposition in 2008; Chairman of Malawi’s Petroleum Control Commission and the National Council for Sports. President Chakwera has promised to govern by a set of five principles that he calls The Chakwera SUPER HI-5, which highlight the five policy focus areas that will be high on his gubernatorial agenda: Servant Leadership; Uniting Malawi; Prospering Together; Ending Corruption; Rule of Law. 

Chrysoula Zacharopoulou is a medical doctor. Born in Sparta (Greece) in 1976, she holds both French and Greek nationalities and is a graduate of Sapienza University in Rome, as well as holding a PhD on endometriosis. She arrived in France in 2007, practicing as a gynaecological surgeon at Bégin Military Hospital.

As a defender of the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls, she founded the “Info-Endométriose” association alongside actor Julie Gayet. In 2016, she launched the first national awareness campaign about this little-known disease, aimed at both health professionals and the public.

She was elected to the European Parliament in 2019 and became a Vice-Chair of its Committee on Development.

Ahead of the European Union-African Union Summit in Brussels, she was selected as the European Parliament’s rapporteur for the drafting of the new EU-Africa strategy, holding broad consultations in several African countries to produce tangible recommendations to build a lasting, inclusive partnership between the two continents.

As both an MEP and a doctor, she worked to ensure an inclusive international response to COVID-19. In April 2021, she was elected Co-Chair of the COVAX Facility Shareholders Council, which includes 65 countries, advocating for equitable access to vaccines and for stepping up vaccination campaigns for poor countries.

In the European Parliament, she also worked to defend the right of women and girls to make decisions governing their own bodies, to fight all forms of violence against them, and fo

Prof. Awa Marie Coll-Seck chairs the National Committee of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (CN-ITIE). She has served as Minister of State to the President of the Republic of Senegal since 2017. She previously served as the Minister of Health of the Republic of Senegal from 2001 to 2003 and again from 2012 to 2017. Minister Coll Seck has previously worked as a specialist in infectious diseases, and as Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the University of Dakar and Chief of Service for Infectious Diseases at the University Hospital in Dakar. From 1996 to 2001 she served as Director of the UNAIDS Department of Policy, Strategy and Research. She is on the Board of Directors of: Resolve to Save Lives, AFRIVAC, GAVI-the Vaccine Alliance, Grand Challenges Canada, Exemplars in Global Health, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).

With 20 years’ experience in global health, Dr. Vanessa Kerry is the CEO of Seed Global Health, a non-profit focused on health systems strengthening and transformation through long-term investments and training of the health workforce. Seed has trained more than 34,000 doctors, nurses, and midwives in seven African countries, giving access to health care for more than 73 million people.

In June 2023 Vanessa was appointed WHO Special Envoy for Climate Change and Health and is leading efforts to build advocacy around the impact of climate change on health to ensure equitable and just climate action.

Anil Soni is the Chief Executive Officer at the WHO Foundation. A proven innovator in global health, he has worked for 20 years in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to expand healthcare access in low and middle-income countries. Before joining the WHO Foundation, he was Head of Global Infectious Diseases at Viatris, working across the pharmaceutical company to accelerate availability of new treatments. Anil was closely involved in the early years of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, serving as the Advisor to the Executive Director and then Founding Executive Director of Friends of the Global Fight. He later served as CEO of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, where he oversaw the rapid expansion of the organization. Anil has been a senior advisor to the Gates Foundation and Born Free Africa. He is an alumnus of McKinsey and Harvard College and serves on the board of The Marshall Project.

Holy Ranaivozanany is the Head of Outreach, Advocacy and Partnerships for the Africa-Europe Foundation. As a member of the senior management, she is leading the team responsible for external relations, strategic partnerships, media and communications, citizen and youth engagement and policy dialogues that can transform Africa-Europe relations into action. Prior to this, she led corporate social responsibility and sustainability for Fortune 500 companies based in China and in France covering strategy, policy work and communications. With a focus on technology for good, she launched global digital inclusion and education programs; and drove corporate engagement with governments, international organizations, civil society and academia, notably on climate change, circular economy, disaster relief and global emergency.

Josep has 30 years of experience in the world of communications and public affairs/ government relations. He worked in the European commission in Brussels in the early 1990s. He then took on the Communication department for the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) and, finally he worked in the cabinet of the President of the EU Committee of the Regions (Pasqual Maragall 1996 - 1998). In 1998 he went back to Spain as the Director of Communications at Forum de las Culturas Barcelona-2004, a partnership between the Spanish government and UNESCO. In 2001 he joined Weber Shandwick. one of the world's leading PR agencies, where he served as the CEO for  Weber Shandwick Brussels - chairing its European Public Affairs Practice and afterwards as CEO for Weber Shandwick Spain & Portugal until mid-2010. He then joined Sanofi where he has had a successful career starting at the country level and then progressing to region Europe. In 2015 he was appointed Global Head of Public Affairs and in January 2018, was appointed Head of Global Communications for the company. In February 2020, he was promoted to Head of Corporate Affairs, responsible for the Group's Communications, Public Affairs, Global Health Unit, Foundation and CSR departments.
Josep holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration by the European University, a Masters in International Politics by the Université LibrE Bruxxelles, and a Certificate in International Studies by the New York University. 

Vanina is on a mission to create healthier futures for generations to come. Serving as the Director General of Foundation S - The Sanofi Collective, she actively propels public health initiatives, harnesses Sanofi's philanthropic endeavors, and spearheads the strategy for donating medicines. A lawyer by training, Vanina contributed to critical access to health innovations while working at the global vaccine alliance Gavi and through her board tenure at CSR Europe and the trade association Vaccines Europe. Vanina's professional journey includes roles at SPMSD, Merck/MSD in Belgium, and Sanofi in France and the US, where she was Vice-President of Global Public Affairs at Sanofi Specialty Care. A passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, she has established women's empowerment networks both in France and the US. Her commitment also led her to serve as a trade advisor for the French government.

Dr. Mayesha Alam is vice president of research at FP Analytics where she oversees the research team and leads research development for clients and partners. She previously helped establish and served as deputy director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, and has also worked with the United Nations, World Bank, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and various nongovernmental organizations. Dr. Alam is the author of two books, Women and Transitional Justice and, with Robert Egnell, Women and Gender Perspectives in the Military, as well as reports on conflict, climate change, health, and gender. Her commentary has appeared in the Washington Post, CNN, NPR, Newsweek, and elsewhere. A nonresident senior fellow of the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research, Dr. Alam has taught at Georgetown University and New York University, and holds a Ph.D. from Yale University.

Andrew Sollinger is the publisher and CEO of Foreign Policy, which he joined in 2018. Previously, he was executive vice president at Business Insider, executive director of Capital New York (now Politico NY) and managing director of the Financial Times Americas. Sollinger was part of the executive team that built Money-Media, a digital news startup focused on the fund management industry, and sold it to the FT. A former reporter and editor for Institutional Investor magazine's newsletter division, Andrew has lived in London, Hong Kong and New York. He is a graduate of Clark University, where he was executive editor of The Scarlet.