Chikondi Chijozi

Chikondi Chijozi is a lawyer and the Human Rights commissioner in Malawi from 2021.

Life

Chijozi and her twin were born in 1984. In time they had two younger siblings.
Chijozi studied Human Rights Law at the University of Sussex in the UK. She obtained a master's degree to add to her existing law degree from Chancellor College. She started work at the Paralegal Advisory Service in 2004 and two years later she was one of a group of lawyers who founded the Centre for Human Rights, Education, Advice and Assistance.
She became a senior lawyer with the Southern Africa Litigation Centre. She writes regularly on legal issues and she is interviewed by the SABC News on current affairs including prison law reform.
She became Malawi's Human Rights Commissioner after being elected in 2023. She had previously worked for the commission. Her appointment was announced by the commission's executive secretary Habiba Osman who swore her in to the job. She was congratulated by President Lazarus Chakwera. She replaced the Reverend Patrick Semphere who had died.
In 2026 she spoke out about the commission's outrage concerning the "barbaric" desecration of the grave of Mausamatha Zacharia. He was an albino and his grave had been disturbed and his arms were missing. Superstition is still believed, by some, that assign his body parts as powerful magic.