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

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.

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

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 first to nullify in 2017, but the rerun election therefrom was never won by the opposition leader.

Similarly, Gospel Kazako became Minister of Information while his sister-in-law Agnes Nkusa Nkhoma became the deputy-Minister for Agriculture.

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.

Chakwera stated that he was working to reduce executive powers to enhance presidential accountability to the people and strengthen the authority of other branches of government.

[24] Chakwera has faced criticism for appointing his daughter and vice president Saulos Chilima's mother-in-law to diplomatic positions.

[25][26][27] President Chakwera formed a strong and positive relationship with British prime minister Boris Johnson, describing their partnership as "crucial."

"[28][29] After the 2021 Zambian general election in which Edgar Lungu lost to Hakainde Hichilema and then gracefully accepted the results of the election, President Chakwera said: "The pattern of peaceful transitions of power we have been seeing in our region in recent years, ... (with) Zambia being the latest member to embody that, are worthy of global acclaim and our applause.

During a political rally in the country's commercial city of Blantyre leading up to the presidential race in 2020, Chilima revealed that one of the basis for the formation of the Tonse Alliance between Malawi Congress Party and UTM was that after the first term of his presidency, Chakwera would pave way for Chilima to lead the pact in the 2025 presidential elections.