Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation says it will cut by half Malawi’s foreign service staff in a move projected to save about K47 billion per year.
The ministry’s Principal Secretary Bright Molande said in an interview yesterday that the plan, after recalling all diplomats, is to deploy a maximum of five staff, including head of mission per embassy.
He said taxpayers currently spend about K94 billion per year on other recurrent transactions (ORT) and per sona l emoluments for the diplomats.
In a communication dated December 3 2025 The Nation sourced, Molande said the ministry will ensure there are arrangements to facilitate smooth transition and maintain the continuity of representation and operations in the affected missions.
When asked to clarify on the recalls, he said: “It’s an exodus of diplomatic recalls. This will reduce the number by half of the diplomats currently out there. The mathematics of saving will follow.
“We are cutting down the numbers to half of diplomats minus local staff [in host countries]. We should be spending K47 billion per year.”
The ministry’s data show that missions with more than five diplomats include London with 12 and Washington, Dar es Salaam and Johannesburg with 11 each as well as Addis Ababa with eight.
Political analyst Chimwemwe Tsitsi in an interview yesterday said the ministry will need to consult the missions to assess their accomplishments before reducing the numbers because in some cases the diplomats negotiate on behalf of the government to woo investors.
However, the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences lecturer said Malawi will still be presented despite reduction because there will still be visibility.
On November 6 2025, the Office of President and Cabinet issued a circular on expenditure control measures directing the reduction of the number of staff at each mission to five or below.
Since reclaiming power through the September 16 General Election the Democratic Progressive Party administration has come up with a number of austerity measures, including limiting foreign travel for ministers to three per year except under special circumstances
