George T. Chaponda (born 1 November 1942) is a

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

an career diplomat and politician who served as Malawi's Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development from 2016 to 2017. He is a founding member of the ruling

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a Taiwanese nationalist and centre-left political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Controlling both the Republic of China presidency and the unicameral Legislative Yuan, it is the majori ...

(DPP) and is a DPP Member of Parliament from Mulanje district in southern Malawi.

Early life

Born in Chonde Village,

Mulanje District Mulanje is a district in the Southern Region of Malawi. The capital is Mulanje. The district covers an area of 2,056 km.² and has a population of 428,322. It is also known for its tea growing industry and Mount Mulanje which is one of the ...

, Chaponda studied at the

University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE) ...

from 1963 to 1968 where he received degrees in history and political science. He studied law at the

University of Zambia The University of Zambia (UNZA) is a public university located in Lusaka, Zambia. It is Zambia's largest and oldest learning institution. The university was established in 1965 and officially opened to the public on 12 July 1966. The language of ...

from 1976 to 1979 and at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

from 1980 to 1984. He was admitted to the bar in 1980.

Career

He has held a number of senior positions in Zambia, including chief executive of a parastal organisation. From 1984 to 2002, he worked mostly as a senior lawyer for the Office for the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. From 2003-2004 he was Chairman of the University Council of the

University of Malawi The University of Malawi (UNIMA) is a public university established in 1965 and until 4 May 2021, when the university underwent a delinking, was composed of four constituent colleges located in Zomba, Blantyre, and Lilongwe. Of the four colleges, ...

. In 2004 Chaponda entered Malawian politics and was elected as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for the

Mulanje Mulanje, formerly called Mlanje, is a town in the Southern Region of Malawi, close to the border with Mozambique, to the east. It is near the Mulanje Massif. Location The town of Mulanje lies along the M-2 highway from Thyolo to the west to t ...

South West constituency. In June 2004, he was appointed

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

in the cabinet of the newly elected President

Bingu wa Mutharika Bingu wa Mutharika (; born Brightson Webster Ryson Thom; 24 February 1934 – 5 April 2012) was a Malawian politician and economist who was President of Malawi from May 2004 until his death in April 2012. He was also President of the Demo ...

. He served in that position until 2005, when he was appointed Minister of Local Government and Rural Development. After the elections in May 2009, President

Peter Mutharika Arthur Peter Mutharika (born 18 July 1940) is a Malawian politician and lawyer who was President of Malawi from May 2014 to June 2020. Mutharika has worked in the field of international justice, specialising in international economic law, inter ...

appointed him Minister of Education, but moved him to lead the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs in 2010. The entire cabinet was dismissed on 19 August 2011. In September 2011, President

re-appointed him to cabinet as Minister of Education, Science and Technology. He served in that post until April 2012, when the president died suddenly of a heart attack. Mutharika's successor,

Joyce Banda Joyce Hilda Banda (née Ntila; born 12 April 1950) is a Malawian politician who was the President of Malawi from 7 April 2012 to 31 May 2014. Banda took office as President following the sudden death of President Bingu wa Mutharika. She is the ...

, appointed Chaponda Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on 22 June 2014. On 7 April 2016, President

moved Chaponda to the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development. Mutharika then appointed him Leader of the House of Assembly in May 2016. After a brief suspension in early 2017, Chaponda was re-instated in February but only held the post for a week before he was succeeded by his deputy Kondwani Nankhumwa in an interim capacity, pending the results of Chaponda's ongoing corruption investigation. He is rumoured to have been groomed to succeed President

, who could leave office as early as 2019 after the expected tripartite elections.

Air Fouling Legislation

In February 2011, Chaponda said that a clause in the Local Courts bill making it a misdemeanor to "vitiate the atmosphere" would criminalize flatulence to "promote decency". He told the private

Capital Radio Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. I ...

's popular ''Straight Talk'' programme, "Would you be happy to see people farting anyhow?" The story was quickly picked up by the foreign press. The Solicitor General

Anthony Kamanga Anthony D. Kamanga is a lawyer who has held various senior official positions in Malawi, and as of 6 December 2012 is the Attorney General of Malawi. Career Kamanga earned an LLB (Bachelor of Laws) in Malawi in 1978, an LLM (Master of Laws) in T ...

contradicted him, saying the bill referred only to air pollution. Later, Chaponda retracted his remarks, saying he had not read the proposed bill before commenting.

Personal life

Chaponda is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, is married and has children. During a parliamentary debate in the Malawi parliament in 2016, he was involved in an altercation with a Member of Parliament from the opposition People's Party (PP), Harry Mlekanjala Mkandawire. Mkandawire is said to have said Chaponda is one of seven ministers alleged to be in an audit report for the plunder of government funds in Malawi, popularly known as Cashgate. His son, comedian

Daliso Chaponda Daliso Chaponda (born 29 November 1979) is a Zambian-born Malawian stand-up comedian living in England. In 2017, he became a finalist in the variety show ''Britain's Got Talent'', finishing third overall. In 2018 he launched a BBC Radio 4 series ' ...

, appeared on ''

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially ...

'' in 2017, claiming

Amanda Holden Amanda Louise Holden (born 16 February 1971) is an English actress, media personality, and singer. Since 2007, she has been a judge on the television talent show competition ''Britain's Got Talent'' on ITV. She also co-hosts the ''Heart Brea ...

's Golden Buzzer. He ended up finishing in third place.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaponda, George 1942 births Living people Delhi University alumni University of Zambia alumni Yale Law School alumni Foreign Ministers of Malawi Malawian diplomats Malawian Christians People from Mulanje District Academic staff of the University of Malawi Government ministers of Malawi Members of the National Assembly (Malawi)