Callista Chimombo

Madame Callista Chapola-Chimombo (Callista Mutharika) (born 24 May 1959) is a Malawian politician and the widow of President Bingu wa Mutharika. She served as the First Lady of the Republic of Malawi from 2010 to 2012. Chimombo was a member of the Cabinet of Malawi as a National Coordinator of Maternal, Infant and Child Health and HIV/Nutrition/Malaria and Tuberculosis.

She served from 2022 as the High Commissioner of Malawi in the Republic of Kenya. She has served as a member of the Pan-African Parliament, and as the Malawi Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Culture.

In 2005, she was Secretary of the Malawi Parliamentary Women's Caucus. Chimombo was a member of the Democratic Progressive Party and a member of the United Democratic Front (UDF).

Personal In January 2010, following a period of intense speculation, it was announced that Chimombo and President Mutharika were engaged to be married and would marry on 1 May 2010. They got engaged on Valentine's Day 2010 in a traditional ceremony that was broadcast on the news. At one point, Mutharika and Callista displayed their joy by taking it to the dance floor where his children, family members and guests spent almost 20 minutes dancing to an interlude of music that turned the whole event into a frenzy of excitement and jubilation.

Career She has worked for Joyce Banda's Hunger Project before being involved in politics.

Political career As of 2005, she was Secretary of the Malawi Parliamentary Women's Caucus. She served as a member of Parliament for Likangala Constituency in the district of Zomba.

Malaria program Mutharika, was also in charge of the country's Malaria program. She has also been appointed to the Malawi Cabinet as of September 8, 2011 as the National Coordinator of Maternal, Infant and Child Health and HIV/Nutrition/Malaria and Tuberculosis. Her work, including charity work has been considered as a salaried position by the Mutharika administration and she a monthly sum of over $7,000 for doing charity work as a coordinator of safe motherhood. She received much criticism for her statements regarding the protest and civil society. Eight organizations signed an official response, acknowledging her right to free speech but questioning her role as the spokesperson for the party because her role as a spokesperson was not mandated in the constitution at that time. They accused her of spreading propaganda and stated that her comments were 'reckless and unacceptable'.