Mary Navicha

Last updated

Mary Navicha
Nationality Malawian
Known forLeader of the opposition
Political party Democratic Progressive Party

Mary Thom Navicha is a Malawian politician who became the leader of the Democratic Progressive Party and the leader of the opposition. She is the first woman to be appointed as Leader of Opposition in the Malawi. She was re-elected in 2025.

Life


Navicha became the member of parliament in Malawi's National Assembly for the Thyolo Thava constituency, as a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). [1]

Navicha served as the Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare in 2019. She praised the women of Blantyre when they peacefully showed their support for Jane Ansah. [2] She was the guest of honour at the Tonga Cultural Festival in August at Mkondezi in the Nkhata Bay district together with the Minister of Lands Symon Vuwa Kaunda and the Deputy Minister of Local Government Esther Majaza. [3]

Navicha was the DPP's Director of Women [4] and a member of the cross party Malawi Parliamentary Women's Caucus. [5] She became the Deputy Whip of the DPP but later resigned. The party's leadership became confused and in April 2023 she cautioned that she was considering leaving the party. [1]

In 2023, Naomi Kilekwa was suspended from parliament by the speaker Catherine Gotani Hara after unruly behaviour during President Lazarus Chakwera's state of the union address. She had refused to leave and Navicha, Thoko Tembo and Victoria Kingstone supported her and they were suspended as well. [6]

In February 2024, the Democratic Progressive Party elected Navicha to be their leader and the leader of the opposition. She was the first woman to hold this position in Malawi. [7] On 15 February, she refused an instruction by the National Assembly's speaker, Catherine Gotani Hara. [8] In September 2023 she thanked Pacific Ltd who had repaired 32 boreholes in her area. Pacific Ltd did this as a gift and they have renewed 8,000 boreholes. When the holes are broken then people use unregulated sources and this is a health risk. [9]

In 2025, Navicha visited Kachere Prison in Lilongwe, to meet the women there. [4] The prison is novel in Malawi because it is women-only. [10] Also in 2025, Navicha was honoured as African Woman of 2024. [11]

She was re-elected to her Thyolo seat in 2025. [12]

References

  1. 1 2 "DPP MP Navicha consults constituents on resignation from party". www.nyasatimes.com. 18 April 2023. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
  2. ↑ Vega, T (11 July 2019). "Malawi: Minister Navicha Hails Women for Conducting Peaceful Pro-Ansah March". AllAfrica.
  3. ↑ "This year's Mdawuku wa Tonga Cultural Festival ..." Times 360 Malawi. 17 August 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  4. 1 2 247Malawi (22 January 2025). "Navicha Brings Hope to Women Inmates at Kachere Prison". 247MALAWI NEWS. Retrieved 23 January 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ↑ "PWC Home – PWC Malawi" . Retrieved 23 January 2025.
  6. ↑ Kalumbi, Mike (21 February 2023). "DPP MP suspended for defying orders". Malawi 24. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
  7. ↑ "Mary Thom Navicha makes history as first female Leader of Opposition in Malawi". 247MALAWI NEWS. 8 February 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
  8. ↑ "DPP Navicha defies Speaker: Refuses to respond to SONA in parliament, says she did already through media". www.nyasatimes.com. 15 February 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
  9. ↑ "DPP MP Mary Navicha Hails Pacific Limited Borehole Rehabilitation Initiative". www.nyasatimes.com. 3 September 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
  10. ↑ "Malawi Relocates Female Inmates to Female-Only Prisons". Voice of America. 18 October 2023. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
  11. ↑ "Celebrating Mary Navicha: A beacon of empowerment and excellence in African leadership". The Maravi Post. 22 March 2025. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  12. ↑ "Malawi: Over Half of MPs, Including 14 Former Cabinet Ministers, Kicked Out As Malawians Demand Change". Nyasa Times. 24 September 2025. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.