The inauguration of President Peter Mutharika as the country’s seventh President on Saturday should have been a proud moment of national unity and constitutional continuity. Instead, it exposed once again how fragile Malawi’s institutions can get when politics takes centre stage.
Reports on the eve of the inauguration that ex-president Lazarus Chakwera and Secretary to the President and Cabinet Coleen Zamba were “barred” from attending the ceremony were startling.
If true, this raises a fundamental question: how can an incoming President and his team exercise authority before the oath of office is taken?
Until that moment, the outgoing administration remains legally in charge of the State.
The episode highlights a deeper constitutional blind spot—the absence of a clear, neutral process for transferring power.
The Constitution defines when a president’s term ends and when a new one begins, but it is silent on overseeing transition and how each side must cooperate.
Expectedly, each power shift becomes an improvised event shaped more by political goodwill than by law.
That vacuum invites disorder. Outgoing officials can withdraw cooperation too early; incoming teams can act before they ought to. Meanwhile, the State dances to confusion and partisan politics.
Other democracies have long recognised the importance of structured transitions.
Ghana’s Presidential (Transition) Act of 2012 and Kenya’s equivalent of 2013 provide detailed frameworks for the peaceful power handover, specifying who should coordinate the process, when it begins and what obligations fall on each side.
The US law ensures the process is handled professionally by nonpartisan civil servants.
Malawi has no such law, so the transition remains a matter of political expediency rather than constitutional discipline.
An inauguration is not a partisan celebration, but a State occasion that affirms continuity and respect for the rule of law.
The presence of the outgoing president is a symbol of national unity and institutional maturity. It demonstrates that citizens’ will reigns supreme and political rivalry ends where constitutional order begins.
When that ritual is disrupted, it weakens public trust and sends the wrong message about our democracy’s resilience.
A system that depends on personalities, not procedures, is prone to manipulation.
To close this gap, Malawi should consider establishing a Judiciary-led presidential transition framework.
The Judiciary is uniquely placed to provide neutrality and authority. It already plays a central role in managing electoral disputes and interpreting constitutional boundaries.
Extending its oversight to the transfer of Executive power would strengthen both legality and public confidence.
Such a framework could take the form of a Presidential Transition Commission, chaired by the Chief Justice with representatives from the Malawi Law Society and trusted technocrats from the Office of the President and Cabinet.
Its mandate would be clear: Ensure the outgoing administration continues its duties with integrity until the new President takes the oath of office; supervise the exchange of State information, security briefings and assets; ensure the inauguration remains a nonpartisan State event and enforce a binding transition code of conduct on both teams.
By doing so, Malawi would turn what is currently a political handshake into a constitutional process — predictable, dignified and protected from abuse.
The 2020 court-ordered fresh presidential election remains a milestone in Malawi’s democratic evolution, proving that institutions can correct political wrongs when empowered to act.
However, that same commitment to legality must now extend to how power changes hands. If we cannot uphold constitutional order at the very moment of renewal, then our democracy rests on shaky ground.
The next frontier in Malawi’s governance reform must therefore be to institutionalise presidential transitions — not as courtesy, but as law.
By 2030, Malawi should aspire to transitions that reflect not the weakness of our politics but the strength of our State. Parliament, the Malawi Law Society, Malawi Law Commission and civil society organisations should start a national conversation on enacting presidential transition laws and oversight.
Democracy is not only about winning elections, but also governing—and leaving—within the boundaries of the law.
Securing that delicate moment of power handover is a decisive step toward building a resilient Republic beyond the rise and fall of its leaders. – Victor Vivian Gondwe
