Chilando Chitangala

Chilando Chitangala is Mayor of the city of Lusaka and recently elected Vice-Chairperson of the Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa (CoMSSA) Regional Mayors Forum (RMF). She oversees planning and decision making at city level and is passionate about improving data collection and management, gender and social inclusion, climate change and environmental protection, strategic and integrated planning, slum upgrading, and empowerment of marginalised groups. In her position on the CoMSSA RMF, Mayor Chitangala acts as an ambassador for the initiative and is responsible for representing and promoting the voices of 300+ cities in project coordination and planning, and for mobilising other mayors to access climate finance and energy.

Mayor Chitangala is currently part of the Bloomberg Harvard Leadership class of 2022–23. She started her political career as a councillor, held the position of Deputy Mayor, and is now the first female to be elected Mayor. She is an inspirational civic leader and mentor for women and girls taking up leadership and decision-making positions at city, national and international levels. She is a hands-on mayor who creates and sustains partnerships and income-generating initiatives to provide equitable services for her town, improve and upgrade informal settlements, and fight HIV/AIDS by meeting the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets.