Tamarra KemsleyFour years after Latter-day Saint leaders called the first African American woman to the governing trio of the faith’s global Primary program for children, higher-ups have promoted an African as its president.
Rosemary K. Chibota, a Malawian raised in Zimbabwe, will serve as the president starting in August, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Saturday at its General Conference.
She will be the first from the continent to serve as president of any of the Utah-based faith’s general organizations — a list that includes the women’s Relief Society, the Sunday school presidency, and the Young Men and Young Women groups.
The 58-year-old Chibota now resides in South Jordan and holds a master’s degree in management and leadership from Western Governors University and a bachelor of science degree in information technology from Colorado Technical University, the church reported in a news release. She works in human resources for the faith. Previously, she worked as a senior executive assistant in the Quorum of the Seventy office.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) New Primary General Presidency: first counselor Nina M. Garfield, President Rosemary K. Chibota and second counselor Theresa A. Collins take their seats during the afternoon session of General Conference at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Saturday, April 4, 2026.
She and her husband, Joel, served together as mission leaders in the Alabama Birmingham Mission from 2022 to 2025. They have one child.
Flanking her will be first counselor Nina M. Garfield, a half-Japanese convert born in Japan, and second counselor Theresa A. Collins, who, along with her husband, Richard, served as mission leaders of the Arkansas Bentonville Mission from 2021 to 2024.
Garfield, 67, joined the church during high school and studied at church-owned Brigham Young University. A widow, she and her deceased husband, David, are the parents of five children.
Collins, 64, studied special education at Utah State University. The news release lists both as homemakers. She and her husband have four children.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Amy A. Wright greets new Primary General President Rosemary K. Chibota and Theresa A. Collins as they take their places on the stand during the afternoon session of General Conference at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Saturday, April 4, 2026.
The Primary organization includes millions of Latter-day Saint children globally ages 18 months to 11 years.
The outgoing trio of leaders include President Susan H. Porter and her counselors, Amy Wright and Tracy Y. Browning.
Tamarra Kemsley has been a reporter at The Tribune since 2021 but has been covering religion and politics since 2019. Her work has appeared in Religion News Service, the New York Post, and Religion & Politics. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Brigham Young University and a master’s in Islamic studies from Hebrew University.