About

George Mwanza

Mayor of Chipata, Zambia

George Mwanza made it to Zambia’s history books as the republic’s youngest elected mayor in August 2021. At just 27 years old, he won the mayoral seat of Chipata City Council in the Eastern province of the country as an independent candidate. This was his second attempt at the elections, after his initial run at 22 years old.

Mwanza prides himself as a philanthropist and grassroots activist who has always been driven by the desire to serve vulnerable and marginalised communities, particularly youth and women. His personal motto is to work “For an Inclusive, Developed & Better City of Chipata”, and he believes in building partnerships with development partners to achieve this. One of the city’s achievements during his tenure was the signing of a twinning partnership with the City of Dormagen in Germany to address development needs, promote knowledge sharing and cultural exchange among the two cities. Through this partnership, the city has started digitising some of its services following a donation of laptops, leading to enhanced transparency and revenue management.

In 2022, Mayor Mwanza was elected Vice-President of the Young Elected Officials of Africa (YELO Network), for UCLG Southern Africa. A further testament to his work as an effective and inspirational young political office bearer, he was shortlisted for the One Young World Politician of the Year Award 2023.