Data covering the period January 2021 to April 2025 show that Malawi recorded 3 535 murder cases, averaging 67 deaths per month.
Rights activists and security analysts have described the data as scary.
While cases that are in courts are not yet known, the Malawi Prisons Service has confirmed that 1 060 or 6.2 percent of the entire prison population are remanded murder suspects.
On the other hand, Malawi Police Service says factors leading to these cases include mob justice, robbery attacks where motorcyclists have mostly fallen victims and land disputes among other cases.
Our analysis of police data for the period shows that 851 people were murdered in 2024, down from 914 in 2023. Yet in 2022, there were 794 cases while in 2021, Malawi registered 758 homicide cases.
From January to April this year, the country has already recorded 218 cases. This means in the 52 months from 2021, Malawi has recorded 3 535 murder cases.
In an interview yesterday, National Police spokesperson Peter Kalaya said police have enhanced public engagement to ensure the importance of reporting crimes and suspects to police.
He said: “Police do investigate mob justice cases to bring those taking laws into their own hands to book when there is a grain of evidence against them.
“We have also adopted intelligence-driven investigations and arrests for those involved in other murder cases such as those who fell victims through robberies.”
High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal chief registrar Innocent Nebi said he needed time to check the number of murder cases in court.
However, Malawi Prisons national spokesperson Steven Meke said 1 060 murder suspects are remanded in prisons.
He said overstaying on remand has led to increased cost of feeding the suspects and brought a scramble for floor space which is a catalyst for tension among inmates.
“There is also increased risk of disease transmission as healthcare services, for example, provision of drugs is always in short supply due to congestion,” said Meke.
Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance executive director Victor Chagunyuka Mhango, whose institution closely works with prisons, said Malawians are now living in fear.
He said: “Many murder cases in Malawi take years to conclude largely due to systemic challenges such as limited investigative capacity, shortage of legal aid lawyers and overburdened courts.”
Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation executive director Michael Kaiyatsa said it was worrisome as violence seems to be normalised.
“We need a radical shift, both in mindset and action. Our police must be reformed and properly resourced. We need more boots on the ground, better training and a serious clean-up of corruption within the system,” he said.
Kamuzu University of Health Sciences professor of clinical psychology Chiwoza Bandawe is on record as having said that mob justice, a major contributor of murder cases, is about frustration and a lack of confidence in the legal system.
