President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera on Thursday morning administered an oath of office to the new Deputy Chief Justice Lovemore Chikopa SC at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe.
President Chakwera appointed Justice Chikopa as Deputy Chief Justice, earlier this week, pursuant to Section 111 (2) of the Constitution of Malawi.
Chikopa, a Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal judge, becomes the inaugural Deputy Chief Justice (DCJ) and his appointment comes almost three years after Parliament passed the Constitution Amendment Bill, which created the position.
Justice Chikopa holds a Bachelor of Law (Honours) degree from the University of Malawi, which he obtained in 1987 and a Master of Business Administration degree, obtained in 2021 from the University of Zambia.
Justice Chikopa joined the Judiciary in 1998 as Principal Resident Magistrate and later rose to the rank of Chief Resident Magistrate.
He was appointed Judge of the High Court in 2000 and Justice of Appeal in 2012.
Before joining the Judiciary, he worked as State Advocate in the Ministry of Justice and later worked for Small Enterprise Development of Malawi (SEDOM) before joining the office of the Ombudsman as Principal Investigations Officer.
Justice Chikopa is also the Judge President of the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Chairperson of the Performance Appraisal and Communication Committees within the Judiciary.
He becomes the first Deputy Chief Justice of the Malawi Judiciary since the Constitution was amended to provide for the office of the Deputy Chief Justice.
Several top government officials including Secretary to the President and Cabinet (SPC) Colleen Zamba were in attendance during the Swearing-In ceremony.
