Chaponda to lead Malawi’s slimmed-down team at UN General Assembly

Malawi is dispatching its smallest ever delegation to the United Nations General Assembly, in a dramatic display of austerity as President Peter Mutharika continues his drive to rein in government spending and steady the country’s battered economy.

President Mutharika has handed Foreign Affairs Minister George Chaponda the task of leading Malawi’s delegation to the 81st UNGA session in New York, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

The pared-back delegation will consist of just Chaponda and four ministry officials — with the United Nations itself picking up the tab for the officials’ costs, leaving government to fund only the Minister’s own travel.

The ministry confirmed the slimmed-down team represents the smallest delegation Malawi has ever sent to the prestigious UN gathering, insisting the cutback is firmly in line with Mutharika’s wider austerity measures designed to get Malawi’s struggling economy back on track.

It comes amid mounting scrutiny over government spending, with officials clearly keen to be seen tightening their belts at a time when ordinary Malawians continue to grapple with soaring living costs.

Deputy Minister of Natural Resources Chipiliro Mpinganjira will later join the delegation in New York, but crucially at no cost to Malawian taxpayers — with his trip to attend Climate Week NYC 2026 instead being fully sponsored by iRise Global Inc, the organisation that extended the invitation.