Colleen Zamba

Zamba was born in Dowa, Malawi, the eldest of six children of Skeffa Thom Zamba and Felestia Zamba,^[1] both educators. Her father was a Malawi Congress Party Member of Parliament for Dowa South East. Her sister is Hope Tionge Zamba,^[2] who won the same seat in the 2025 general election.^[3]

She attended Lilongwe Girls Secondary School and later earned a Bachelor of Social Science in Economics from Chancellor College, University of Malawi, in 1985. Zamba studied at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, obtaining a Postgraduate Diploma in Development Policy in 1988 and a Master of Philosophy in Economic Planning in 1989, where she was named best student of the year.^[4]

Zamba began her career as an economist and became Principal Secretary for Economic Affairs, where she led the monitoring of the Economic Program of Malawi. She then became the Principal Secretary of Debt and Aid Management where she led the negotiation of Heavily Indebted Countries Malawi Decision Point.^{[clarification needed]} She also became Principal Secretary for Trade, where she was spokesperson for Southern Africa in trade negotiations.^[5]

In October 2021, President Lazarus Chakwera appointed Zamba head of the Presidential Delivery Unit and Chief Advisor to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and International Affairs.^[6] On June 1, 2022, Zamba was appointed Secretary to the President and Cabinet, succeeding Zangazanga Chikhosi.^[7] Her appointment was lauded by gender activist Emma Kaliya as a demonstration of President Chakwera's commitment to gender equality.^[8]

In December 2025, Zamba was arrested at Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe while preparing to travel to Switzerland. She was taken into custody by police officers from National Police Headquarters and moved to Lingadzi Police Station for questioning. Authorities did not immediately disclose the reason for the arrest.^[9]