Secretary-General appoints Aeneas Chapinga Chuma of Zimbabwe as Deputy Special Representative for Liberia, New York, 27 November 2012

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Aeneas Chapinga Chuma of Zimbabwe as his Deputy Special Representative for Recovery and Governance of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).  Mr. Chuma will also serve as the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and Resident Representative.

He will replace Mr. Moustapha Soumaré of Mali, who now serves as the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  The Secretary-General is grateful for Mr. Soumaré’s outstanding performance in Liberia, including a six-month period of serving as UNMIL’s Officer-in-Charge.

Mr. Chuma brings with him a wealth of development and leadership experience. He is currently serving as the Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and Resident Representative in Kenya.  Prior to that appointment, Mr. Chuma served as the Resident Coordinator and Resident Representative of the United Nations in Zambia from 2003 to 2008, as well as the Deputy Resident Representative in Mozambique from 2000 to 2003 and in Uganda from 1996 to 2000.  He also held various positions with the United Nations Development Programme in New York, Oman and Zimbabwe.  In addition to Mr. Chuma’s extensive experience with the United Nations, he also served as a macroeconomist and econometrician with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.  

Mr. Chuma holds a Master’s degree in Applied Economics from the University of California.