6th President of Malawi
Lazarus Chakwera
Lazarus Chakwera, Malawi's sixth President (2020–2025): life, career and the public debt during his presidency.
Biography
Lazarus Chakwera was the 6th President from 28 June 2020 to 4 October 2025, for the Malawi Congress Party. The Vice Presidents were Saulos Chilima (2020–2024) and Michael Usi (2024–2025).1
He was born on 5 April 1955 in Malembo, Lilongwe. He studied at University of Malawi, Trinity International University, University of Limpopo and University of South Africa. Before the presidency he worked as a theologian and a teacher. He also served as Member of the National Assembly of Malawi (2010) and Minister of Defence (2020–2023).
He lost the 2014 election with 27.84% of the vote to Peter Mutharika's 36.42%, lost the 2019 election with 35.41% of the vote to Peter Mutharika's 38.57% (a result the Constitutional Court later annulled), won the 2020 election with 59.34% of the vote and lost the 2025 election with 33.01% of the vote to Peter Mutharika's 56.76%.2
During the presidency, public debt went from 46.8% of GDP (end-June 2020) to 86.8% (October 2025, estimate).3
Public debt during the presidency
- Debt to GDP when taking office
- 46.8% (end-June 2020)
- When leaving office
- 86.8% (October 2025 (estimate))
- Change
- +40 points of GDP
- In US dollars
- US$5.51 billion → US$13.08 billion
Measured the same way for every president: debt as a share of GDP at the year-end nearest each handover, or the Ministry of Finance's figure for the handover itself where one exists. Compare every president · Live national debt clock
More about Lazarus Chakwera
Lazarus Chakwera was Malawi’s sixth President, from June 2020 to October 2025.
Born near Lilongwe, he trained as a theologian and was President of the Malawi Assemblies of God church from 1989 to 2013. He was elected leader of the Malawi Congress Party in 2013 and served as Leader of the Opposition in Parliament.
After the Constitutional Court annulled the 2019 presidential election, he led the Tonse Alliance to victory in the fresh election of 23 June 2020 and was sworn in on 28 June 2020, with Saulos Chilima as Vice President. Chilima died in a plane crash in June 2024 and Michael Usi succeeded him.
His term was marked by Cyclone Freddy in 2023, a steep devaluation of the kwacha, high inflation and fast-rising domestic borrowing. He lost the September 2025 election to Peter Mutharika.
References
- Office of the President and Cabinet, Malawi
- Malawi Electoral Commission: presidential election results
- Ministry of Finance, Malawi: public debt reports (with the IMF Global Debt Database for years before them)
Written by Ask Malawi from the public records cited above; no text is copied from other sites. Updated 10 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.