Edith Nawakwi

Edith Zewelani Nawakwi (born c. 1959) is a Zambian politician and economist by profession. She is the first woman in Zambia to hold the post of Minister of Finance following her appointment in 1997. She is the President of the Forum for Democracy and Development under which she ran for president at the 2016 general election.

Nawakwi was born in Mwenzo, Northern Province of Zambia. She holds a degree in Agriculture Economics and Business Management from the University of Zambia and a post-graduate diploma in Economics of Energy and Development from Imperial College London, London.

Her political career saw her join the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) in 1990 and went on to hold various political positions including Minister of State for Energy & Water Development, Minister of Energy & Water Development, Minister of Agriculture, Food & Fisheries, Minister of Finance and Minister of Labour & Social Security between 1992 and 2001.

In 2001, she and some ex-members of the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy formed the Forum for Democracy and Development where she served as the party's secretary-general and vice-president before she was elected party president in 2005, making her the first woman in Zambia to achieve such feat. In 2011, under the platform of the Forum for Democracy and Development, she was the only woman who contested in the 2011 general election, placing seventh on the log with a total of 6,833 votes. She also contested in the 2015 presidential election, placing third with a vote percentage of 0.92%. In 2016, she ran for the presidency at the 2016 general election where she placed third, receiving a total of 24,149 votes.

She is married to Geofrey Hambulo with whom she has three children. In January 2013, one of her daughters, Hatamba Hambulo was murdered. Her dumped body was found in a manhole in Ibex Hill with her hands and legs tied.