President Peter Mutharika has issued an executive order that will see three government agencies relocating their bases to Blantyre and one to Zomba from Lilongwe.
Following the order dated October 10 2025, Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra), Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) and Malawi Housing Corporation (MHC) headquarters will return to Blantyre while Malawi Prisons Service headquarters will revert to Zomba.
In justifying the reversal of decisions implemented by his predecessor Lazarus Chakwera, Mutharika said there is need to strategically realign and reallocate certain government institutions to promote administrative balance and efficiency.
“The relocation shall commence immediately upon issuance of this order and be completed within three months from the date of this order,” reads the order.
The President has since directed Chief Secretary Justin Saidi to coordinate the relocation process while the Secretary to the Treasury Heatherwick Njati is under instruction to provide necessary financial and logistical support for the relocation.
Meanwhile, the Centre for Social Concern and Transparency (Csat) and National Advocacy Platform (NAP) have condemned the decision to relocate the institution’s headquarters.
Csat executive director Willy Kambwandira said the President’s order, coming at a time when the country is struggling with food insecurity and economic distress, is “not only wasteful, but also insensitive”.
He said: “The country is facing its toughest fiscal and humanitarian periods, including widespread food shortages. In such a context, any policy that entails large administrative or infrastructure expenditures must be justified by clear economic or service delivery benefits.
“The relocation of these institutions is not a priority. Without proper justification, the order of relocation appears more for political symbolism than efficiency.”
NAP chairperson Benedicto Kondowe said yesterday that the decision to relocate the offices has significant governance, economic, and political implications.
He said while the objective of promoting regional balance and equitable service delivery is commendable, institutions such as Macra play critical regulatory roles that depend on proximity to central government ministries, Parliament and diplomatic missions located in Lilongwe.
MEC moved its head offices from Blantyre to Lilongwe in June 2023 while Malawi Prisons relocated its headquarters from Zomba in January 2024 followed by Macra in March 2024 alongside MHC.
The major relocation of all head offices for the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) which were housed in Blantyre to Capital Hill in Lilongwe were initiated by former president Bingu wa Mutharika in 2006 to ease coordination and purportedly cut costs of travel of MDA officials to and from parent ministries in Lilongwe.
There were also plans to relocate head offices of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services and the Judiciary from Blantyre to Lilongwe.
