Board of Trustees

Chairperson

Maureen Kachingwe

Maureen is currently Company Secretary and Lead for Corporate & Legal Affairs at Illovo Sugar (Malawi) plc (the biggest sugar producer in Malawi playing a significant role in Malawi’s economic development) a position she was promoted to in December 2019 after joining Illovo in July 2017 as Company Secretary.

In her current role, Maureen heads the legal department stakeholder engagement and industry affairs and is a member of the executive management team. From 2019 todate Maureen has participated in Illovo’s exciting transformation agenda to introduce a new operating model whose main aim is to identify key sources of value and root causes of complexity which have previously undermined Illovo’s ability to unlock value.

Maureen joined Illovo from Sunbird Tourism Limited where she had a successful career for 23 years in the areas of compliance, securities law, corporate law, governance, risk management and Company Secretarial with responsibilities over Human Resources and Procurement. In 2002 Maureen was part of a team of experts which successfully delivered the listing for Sunbird.

Over the years Maureen has served on the boards of financial institutions, pension trusts, parastatals, insurance company, as well as serving as Secretary for the Malawi Law Society, President for the Women Lawyers Association and Council member of the Council for Higher Education among other responsibilities.

Before joining Sunbird Tourism Limited in 1993 Maureen worked as a legal practitioner for the now defunct legal firm of Saidi & Company where she was responsible for litigation, drafting agreements and land transactions, conducting research and writing legal opinions.

Maureen has a strong legal and corporate governance background with passion in areas of leadership, women’s rights and governance however through a series of promotions and involvement in projects such as cost optimisation, gaining efficiencies, organisational effectiveness and leadership opportunities Maureen’s skills have expanded beyond the traditional legal field to strategic leadership. Maureen is a practising legal practitioner and has a Bachelor of Laws Degree (University of Malawi) and a Master’s in Business Administration (University of Hull in the United Kingdom).

Board Member

Malumbo kumwenda

Board Member

Commissioner Chikondi Chijozi

In the current 7th Cohort, Commissioner Chijozi is a member of Child Rights Directorate and Civil and Political Rights Directorate. Commissioner Chikondi Chijozi is a passionate human rights lawyer with 17 years’ experience in human rights work. She has been a human rights activist since 2004 when she joined Centre for Human Rights Education Advice and Assistance (CHREAA) as a paralegal officer. She rose up the ladder in the organisation and became the Deputy Executive Director and Litigation Manager.

She is a strong advocate for rights of marginalised groups including women, children, sex workers, LGBTIQ and prisoners. She has been involved in strategic litigation challenging laws that oppress the marginalised groups. The notable cases that she has been involved in, include, the laws on rogue and vagabond, laws that target and criminalise sex workers, challenging the policy that prevent Rastafari children from being enrolled and admitted into government schools and protecting children from unlawful and arbitrary arrests and detentions. Ms. Chijozi holds a Master of Laws (International Human Rights Law) from University of Sussex in the United Kingdom and a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the University of Malawi, Chancellor College.

Ms. Chijozi is currently working for the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) and she heads the Criminal Justice Program. She is also a board member of IPAS Malawi, Youth and Society (YAS). In 2006 she was awarded at the first African Young Women Summit for outstanding work in human rights. She is also an active member of the Women Lawyers Association in Malawi. In 2020 she was awarded by the Women Lawyers Association as the best female lawyer in NGO sector. She is a member of the Malawi Law Society and serves as a member of the Public Interest Litigation Committee. She also has published some articles and research work on various human rights issues.

Board Member

Habiba Osman

Board Member

Alyka Mtambo