Politics of Malawi takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic,whereby the President of Malawi is both head of state and head of government,and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. There is a cabinet of Malawi that is appointed by the President of Malawi. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Malawi elects on the national level a head of state and government –the President –and a national assembly. The President and members of the National Assembly,elected simultaneously at a General Election,together form the Malawian Parliament owing to the President's role as both head of government and head of state. In practice however,the National Assembly is on par with the executive and is able to exercise oversight functions through investigations and public hearings on various matters including those involving the executive.
The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) is a political party in Malawi. It was formed as a successor party to the banned Nyasaland African Congress when the country,then known as Nyasaland,was under British rule. The MCP,under Hastings Banda,presided over Malawian independence in 1964,and from 1966 to 1993 was the only legal party in the country. It has continued to be a major force in the country since losing power.
John Zenus Ungapake Tembo was a Malawian politician who served for years as President of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP). Tembo comes from the Dedza District in central Malawi,and he was a teacher by profession. Beginning in the 1960s he was an important politician in Malawi,and he was a key figure in the regime of Hastings Banda (1964–1994). He has been variously described as "physically slight,ascetic,fastidious" and "cunning". He was replaced as President of the MCP in August 2013.
The University of Malawi (UNIMA) is a public university established in 1965 and until 4 May 2021,when the university underwent a delinking,was composed of four constituent colleges located in Zomba,Blantyre,and Lilongwe. Of the four colleges,the largest is Chancellor College in Zomba. It is part of the Malawian government educational system. The last Vice-Chancellor was Professor John Kalenga Saka.
Arthur Peter Mutharika is a Malawian politician and lawyer who was President of Malawi from May 2014 to June 2020. Mutharika has worked in the field of international justice,specialising in international economic law,international law and comparative constitutional law. He informally served as an adviser to his older brother,President Bingu wa Mutharika,on issues of foreign and domestic policy from the onset of his election campaign until the President's death on 5 April 2012.
The Cabinet of Malawi is the executive branch of the government,made up of the President,Vice President,Ministers and Deputy Ministers responsible for the different departments.
Nancy Gladys Tembo is a Malawian politician and serves as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Malawi Government since 2022. She is also a Member of Parliament (MP) representing Lilongwe City South West constituency in the National Assembly of the Republic of Malawi.
Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera is a Malawian politician and theologian who has served as President of Malawi since June 2020. He has served as the leader of the Malawi Congress Party since 2013. He was President of the Malawi Assemblies of God from 1989 to 2013.
Andrew K.C. Nyirenda is the former Chief Justice of Malawi. He was appointed in March 2015 at Sanjika Palace by President Peter Mutharika.
Eisenhower Nduwa Mkaka is a Malawian politician representing Lilongwe Mpenu Constituency. He currently serves as Minister of Natural Resources following a cabinet reshuffle in January 2022. Mkaka has also held the position of Secretary General for the Malawi Congress Party,a role within the ruling political party.
Presidential elections were held in Malawi on 23 June 2020,having originally been scheduled for 19 May and later 2 July. They followed the annulment of the results of the 2019 presidential elections,in which Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party had received the most votes.
Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda is a Malawian politician. In 2020 she became Minister of Health in Malawi.
Dalitso Kabambe is an economist,banker and politician from Malawi. He served as the 13th Governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi from 2017 until 2020 .
Martha Thokozani Chikuni was a Malawian journalist,television personality and diplomat. She was one of the first women news anchors at Television Malawi. She served as the head of media marketing at the State Residence during the administration of Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera and as special assistant to President Joyce Banda. She was a former diplomat to the Malawian mission to the United States in Washington D.C.,responsible for trade and tourism marketing.
Vera Kamtukule is a Malawian author,writer,publisher,activist and politician,who holds a ministerial position in the Cabinet of Malawi. Vera Kamtukule was appointed Minister of Tourism on 31 January 2023. Until her current appointment Vera served as the Minister of Labour since 26 January 2022 and as deputy Minister of Labour following the 2020 Malawian presidential election. In 2021 Vera Kamtukule assumed her role as Chair of the SADC Employment and Labour Sector.
Monica Chakwera is the First Lady and wife of Lazarus Chakwera,president of the Republic of Malawi. She was born on 30 September 1953;she comes from Mwazisi village,T/A Chikulamayembe,in Rumphi District,in the northern part of Malawi.
Agnes Nyalonje is a Malawian politician who has served as the country's Education Minister since July 2020.
Timothy Mtambo of Chitipa is a Malawian politician and serves as Minister of Civic Education and National Unity in Malawi government since 2020. Prior to active politics,Mtambo was a human rights activist. He is mostly known for the role he played by leading demonstrations against the regime of President Peter Mutharika,accusing the regime of nepotism and corruption. Mtambo also holds the position of Commander in Chief of Citizen for Transformation Movement (CFT).
Paul Valentino Phiri is a Malawian military officer who was appointed as the Commander of the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) in July 2023 by President Lazarus Chakwera. He became the first officer from the Army's Infantry Corps to lead the MDF.
