Chewe served in the Zambian Army, reaching the rank of captain and managing The Sentries, an army-based band.
[3] He later joined the Forum for Democracy and Development and ran unsuccessfully for the position of chairman in 2001.
[4] Chewe did not stand for re-election in the 2001 general elections and subsequently joined the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD).
[5] Later in the year he was the MMD candidate in Munali in the 2006 general elections.
[6] Chewe later switched his support to the Patrtiotic Front, campaigning for Edgar Lungu in the 2015 presidential elections.