Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera (born 5 April 1955) is a Malawian politician, theologian, and pastor who served as the sixth president of Malawi from 2020 to 2025. A member of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), he has served as the party's president since 2013. He also served as President of the Malawian Assemblies of God from 1989 to 2013, and during his presidency concurrently served as Minister of Defense from 2020 to 2023.

Born in Lilongwe, Chakwera graduated from the University of Malawi in 1977 with a bachelor's degree in arts and philosophy. He then joined the Malawian Assemblies of God's School of Theology in 1983 where he became its president in 1996 and served in this role until 2000. During this time, Chakwera became the president of the Malawian Assemblies of God in 1989 and served in this role until his resignation 2013, when he entered politics and joined the Malawi Congress Party and was elected as the party's leader in August of that year. In the presidential election held the following year, Chakwera ran for the presidency, but while getting more votes than incumbent Joyce Banda, he lost to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)'s presidential candidate Peter Mutharika. In the 2019 presidential election, Chakwera lost again to Mutharika. However, in February 2020, the Constitutional Court annulled the election results citing irregularities and a rerun election was held, where Chakwera won.

During his presidency, Chakwera implemented governance and education reforms, improved international engagement, and made efforts to increase transparency. He builds more schools, especially in rural areas and also improved some infrastructure in the country. However, Chakwera's presidency was overshadowed by economic challenges such as high inflation, rising cost of living, currency devaluation, and growing public debt. Despite his anti-corruption stance, Chakwera also faced criticism over corruption and nepotism, which he promises to fight when coming to office. Chakwera appointed relatives to his cabinet and also appointed people related to some members of his cabinet. Several protests also occurred during Chakwera's presidency, in July and October 2022 and 2024, all of which were against Chakwera and his government's slow handling of corruption cases and as well as the cost of living. In some of these peaceful demonstrations, protesters were attacked by masked, machete-wielding men, an incident condemned by rights groups and foreign missions. As a result of the economic crisis and the slow handling of corruption cases and as well as nepotism, Chakwera lost the 2025 presidential election to Mutharika.

Lazarus Chakwera was born in Malembo, Lilongwe, near the capital city of Malawi, on 5 April 1955 while the country was still under British colonial rule. His father was a primary school teacher and supplemented his family's income through subsistence farming.

Lazarus married Monica Chakwera on 8 October 1977, and they have four children (one son and three daughters).

Chakwera graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Philosophy) Degree from the University of Malawi in 1977. He studied theology and gained an Honours degree from the University of the North in South Africa and gained a master's degree (MTh) from the University of South Africa in 1991. Trinity International University in the United States awarded him a doctorate (D.Min) in 2000. He became a professor at the Pan-Africa Theological Seminary in 2005.

He worked as an instructor at the Assemblies of God's School of Theology from 1983 to 2000, where he became the principal in 1996. He has been the co-director and a lecturer at All Nations Theological Seminary. From 1989 to 2013 he presided over the Malawi Assemblies of God. On 14 April 2013, he took many by surprise when he declared his intentions to run at a convention of the opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) as president while still maintaining the Assemblies of God Presidency.

Rumours of Chakwera's intention to run in the MCP's presidential race were first reported in online media on 9 April 2013. They were confirmed on 14 April 2013. Chakwera later submitted his nomination papers while still at the helm of the Malawi Assemblies of God. The MCP convention slated for 27 April 2013 was later postponed to 10 and 11 August where he was elected as the president of MCP and he represented the party in the 2014 general elections. During 2014 Malawi General elections, rumors speculated in different platforms that the elections were rigged. Chakwera told all Malawians to remain peaceful, accept the outcome, and wait for the next coming elections. Besides being successful as the main opposition party president, he also served as a member of parliament for the Lilongwe North West Constituency.