Dr. Rodger Chongwe is a founding member and former ILAC Executive Committee fellow. In 2018 he received ILAC Lifetime Membership Award. He is a lawyer and an opposition leader in Zambia. As leader of the opposition, Chongwe has been a target of attacks. He was shot and wounded in 1997 by police officers during a political rally.
He has been crucial to opening doors for ILAC in Africa. On ILAC’s behalf, he greatly contributed to Partners for Gender Justice project, a series of High-level meetings among ILAC, United Nations, local governments, other NGOs and academics to discuss the role of the judiciary in promoting gender justice in several countries, including Liberia, Ghana and Haiti. Dr Chongwe also took part on the ILAC mission team on Liberia and later on assisted during the planning phase of ILAC programme in that country.
Dr Chongwe is also a former Minister of Justice and Minister of Local Government and Housing of the Republic of Zambia as well as a former President of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association.