Malawi politics tainted—report
The 2024 State of Democracy has observed that personalised politics, a powerful presidency and lack of party ideologies remain a feature of Malawi’s politics since the introduction of multi-party elections in 1994.
Published by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IIDEA), the report notes that political parties are heavily based on geography and ethnicity, with corruption remaining high.
Experts in politics, elections and governance agree that the situation has led to political parties suffering from a dearth of distinctive ideology.
along regional lines
On a positive note, the report has ranked Malawi 64th among countries that have for the past five years made significant advances in credible elections and civil society work, but decries suppression of press freedom.
It reads: “While several peaceful transfers of power have helped establish elections as the legitimate way of gaining political power, elections have not brought about significant democratisation and have generated political tension, most notably following the contested 2019 presidential election results, when the country’s High Court ordered a re-run of the poll.”
Ahead of the 2025 General Elections, the report calls for credibility of the whole process. It notes that corruption will be among key issues when Malawians vote in the September 2025 polls.
Afrobarometer research director and University of Malawi (Unima) associate professor of political science Boniface Dulani said political parties mobilise along regional lines, although the 50 percent-plus-one rule will force them to reach out to other regions.
He said such mobilisation has led to political parties suffering from a dearth of distinctive ideology.
Said Dulani: “This is also why we have many nomadic politicians who jump from one party to another based on opportunistic ambitions.
“I am not sure how the requirement for parties to align their manifestos with the Mw2063 will impact on ideological disposition since these are already weak to non-existent.”
Dulani, who attended the launch of the report on Tuesday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, emphasised that voters can choose to punish political parties and politicians who fail to honour their promises by voting them out.
“Voters can also seek direct engagement with their representatives and impress on them to honour their promises, although this is not easy since most elected leaders choose to disappear after getting elected,” he added.
Gift Sambo, an expert in legislative and electoral politics and teaches at Unima, said the ruling elite are monopolistic, where they tend to allocate more resources to areas of their origin, neglecting others.
“There is no distinction between state and party affairs, those in power think they own and control everything. Resources are spent where parties can consolidate the patronage system and win elections.
“Apart from manifesto, we need deliberate mechanisms that will help build principled leadership,” he said.
During the launch of the 2024 Governance and Corruption Survey in Blantyre in July, the Anti-Corruption Bureau said despite various interventions to aid the fight against corruption, graft continues to worsen in the country, largely facilitated by poor public service delivery.
