The president is directly elected for five-year terms and exercises considerable executive authority. President Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was elected in a June 2020 election that was considered well administered, competitive, credible, and reflective of the popular will. The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) said in September 2023 that the next presidential election would be held in September 2025.

The unicameral National Assembly’s 193 members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms. The 2019 legislative elections were marred by irregularities and logistical problems. As many as 29 candidates challenged the results in court, with several being successful. The DPP won 62 seats, the MCP won 55, and the United Democratic Front (UDF) won 10 in that election; smaller parties and independent candidates won the remaining seats. The Tonse Alliance, an MCP-led coalition, maintained a slim parliamentary majority in 2023.

The Constitutional Court overturned the results of the 2019 presidential election in early 2020. That election was marred by inconsistencies and concerns over the behavior of the MEC, which had to defend the use of corrective fluid on vote-tabulation sheets. Opposition parties challenged the results’ validity, prompting the court’s involvement. In 2021, after the High Court of Malawi ruled that four commissioners were illegally appointed, President Chakwera appointed three DPP-aligned commissioners and one MCP-aligned commissioner, effectively balancing the body.

A new electoral law that took effect in June 2023 consolidated the framework for presidential, parliamentary, and local elections and established procedures for holding a runoff presidential poll in the event that no candidate secured a first-round majority.

Several parties compete in elections, with the MCP, DPP, UDF, and the United Transformation Movement (UTM) being Malawi’s largest. Parties are loosely organized, with politicians frequently moving between parties or forming their own breakaway groups. The law allows independent candidates in presidential, parliamentary, and local elections. According to an Afrobarometer survey released in August 2022, a majority of respondents said they feel free to join political organizations and vote for their preferred candidates.

Malawi has experienced peaceful transfers of power between rival parties. The 2020 presidential election was the second time after 1994 that an opposition candidate defeated a sitting incumbent.

The governing party generally has a campaigning advantage and enjoys partial coverage from state-owned media, leaving the opposition reliant on private outlets. Nevertheless, opposition parties have won legislative seats that were previously held by the governing party.

Traditional chiefs, who receive government honorariums, are supposed to be nonpartisan figures under the law but frequently seek to influence voter choices in practice. Some chiefs publicly endorse candidates during elections and sometimes threaten opposition candidates against campaigning in their areas. A handful of ethnic associations seek to promote partisan agendas.

The Political Parties Act bans politicians from using cash handouts and other incentives to garner votes. Despite this, handouts in the form of cash and materials are common during election campaigns.

All ethnic, religious, and gender groups have full political rights under the law. Women are significantly underrepresented in politics, with women holding only 20.7 percent of the National Assembly’s seats. However, women do hold important government posts; the parliament’s speaker, inspector general of police, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) chief, and ombudsman are women. Some 40 percent of the ministers in the cabinet announced in January 2023 are women.

Political parties generally do not advocate for the rights of LGBT+ people, who are subject to legal and societal discrimination.

Executive and legislative representatives typically determine the policies of government without hindrance. However, patronage and clientelism are common. Traditional leaders, the clergy, and wealthy business leaders often influence policymaking.

Corruption is a significant challenge in Malawi, with senior government officials being implicated in corruption in recent years. The delivery of government services is affected, with lower-level officials being pressured into to tolerating the corrupt behavior of their superiors.

Civil society leaders have accused the ACB of being ineffective and politically compromised. In December 2022, ACB director general Martha Chizuma was arrested over comments she made earlier in the year, in which she expressed concerns that the bureau was being obstructed in its work. Chizuma was accused of criminal defamation after two officials complained about her remarks, though prosecutors dismissed the charges against her in February 2023.

In June 2022, President Chakwera stripped Vice President Saulos Chilima’s powers after the ACB accused Chilima of corruption. In November 2022, the ACB arrested Chilima for allegedly receiving funds from Zuneth Sattar, a Malawi-born businessman active in the United Kingdom, in return for awarding government contracts to firms connected to Sattar. Chilima faced six charges of violating the Corrupt Practices Act; his case was sent to the High Court in Lilongwe in May 2023, and he remained in office at year’s end.

The government lacks budgetary transparency and does not make year-end budget audit reports public. President Chakwera and cabinet ministers regularly appear before lawmakers to answer questions. Government ministers occasionally appear before the media to address major issues and answer journalists’ questions.

Senior public officials are legally required to declare their assets and other financial interests while in public service.

President Chakwera’s January 2023 cabinet reshuffle reduced the number of ministers from 30 to 25. In November 2023, the president banned foreign travel for himself and his cabinet through March 2024 as part of a set of austerity measures announced to address the country’s economic crisis.

Freedom of the press is legally guaranteed and respected in practice. Journalists sometimes face physical violence while reporting on demonstrations or police activity. In November 2023, police officers seized the phone of Zodiak Broadcasting Station reporter Raphael Mlozoa—who had been covering antigovernment protests in the Mangochi district—and deleted photos he took of officers arresting a demonstrator.

Recent Afrobarometer survey data shows that the proportion of Malawians that rely on traditional news sources such as radio and newspapers has been falling as more individuals, especially youth, turn to the internet and social media as their primary source of news.

The freedom of religion is constitutionally upheld and generally respected in practice. Christians, who make up just over 77 percent of the population, and Muslims, at around 14 percent, occasionally engage in conflict, which is often resolved peacefully.

Malawi’s education system is largely free from political indoctrination. University students and professors engage in research and political activities without interference. However, public universities are poorly funded and overall university enrollment numbers are among the lowest in the region.

Citizens are typically free to express their personal views without fear of surveillance or retribution. Under a 2016 cybercrime law, individuals can be sued for posting “offensive” content on social and traditional media platforms. A 1967 law against insulting the president is rarely enforced.

Freedom of assembly is constitutionally guaranteed. Citizen groups can assemble peacefully. The law requires protesters to notify the police and local government officials in advance, although this has often been misinterpreted by those authorities as empowering them to grant or refuse authorization.

Most demonstrations held in 2023 were peaceful, though protesters and police clashed during cost-of-living demonstrations in November 2023 in Lilongwe and other cities.

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are active in Malawi, although the most recent Civil Society Organization Sustainability Index for Malawi noted that many local NGOs are facing funding challenges, threatening their sustainability.

Under the NGO Act, an organization’s registration can be suspended if it is deemed to have departed from its original purpose, engaged in partisan politics, or otherwise violated its provisions. In November 2023, the Ministry of Homeland Security ordered refugee rights group Inua Advocacy, which had been monitoring conditions at the Dzaleka refugee camp and had spoken out against the forced relocation of refugees to the camp in May, to leave the camp. The ministry gave no reason for the expulsion.

The rights to organize labor unions and to strike are legally protected, though these are limited for workers that offer essential services. Unions are active and collective bargaining is practiced, but retaliation against unregistered unions and strikers is not illegal. In January 2023, the Civil Servants Trade Union and the Teachers Union of Malawi called off plans for nationwide strikes after the government agreed to review their concerns. No other major strikes were reported in 2023.

Judicial independence is generally respected, particularly in the higher courts. However, the appointment process for judges lacks transparency, and the judiciary is underfunded, which can also undercut judicial autonomy. Accusations of corruption have been made against the judiciary, especially against lower courts.

In December 2022, President Chakwera swore in four new High Court judges to address a shortfall of judges on that court.

Defendants are entitled to legal representation, but in practice they are frequently forced to represent themselves in court due to a very low lawyer-to-population ratio. Although the law requires that suspects be released or charged with a crime within 48 hours of arrest, these rights are often ignored. Case backlogs contribute to lengthy pretrial detention.

The Legal Aid Bureau was formed under the 2011 Legal Aid Act (LAA) to support indigent and vulnerable clients. It has continued to advocate for changes to the LAA to allow paralegals to serve as legal counsel for the indigent. However, the Malawi Law Society has voiced opposition to the proposal.

Police are poorly trained, ill-equipped, and often ineffective. Police brutality and corruption is common. Prison conditions are dire and characterized by overcrowding. According to a January 2023 joint report by the Malawi Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance and international NGOs, prisons suffered from persistent shortages of food, water, and health care, leading to cholera outbreaks and severe hunger.

Although Malawi retains the death penalty for certain categories of crimes, no death row prisoner has been executed since 1994.

The constitution explicitly guarantees the rights of all humans. Homophobia remains commonplace, and same-sex relations remain a crime punishable by up to 14 years’ imprisonment.

In July 2023, the High Court, sitting as a constitutional body, began hearing a case brought by Jana Gonani, a transgender woman who was convicted of violating a penal-code provision effectively barring same-sex activity in 2021. Gonani’s case was merged with that of Jan Willem Akster, a Dutch citizen who was accused of sodomy in 2020. Gonani argued that part of Section 153 of the penal code violated citizens’ privacy and dignity. Religious and traditional leaders organized nationwide anti-LGBT+ demonstrations in July 2023. No ruling was issued by year’s end.

Despite constitutional guarantees for equal protection, women experience discrimination in education, politics, employment, business, and other aspects of life. Help for children and people with disabilities is rarely available.

The constitution establishes freedom of internal and foreign travel, which are generally respected. However, police roadblocks are ubiquitous and bribes are common at these checkpoints.

The government’s policy of confining refugees to designated camps has been criticized for restricting their freedom of movement and impairing their ability to earn a living. In May 2023, the government began forcibly relocating hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers from urban centers to the Dzaleka refugee camp, which is overcrowded and lacking basic services.

Property rights are inadequately protected. Starting a business can be a cumbersome process that is worsened by corruption in key government agencies.

Most land is held under customary tenure, and the process of establishing legal ownership of land has moved slowly. The Land (Amendment) Bill of 2022 limits noncitizens’ ability to own land.

Domestic violence is common, but victims rarely come forward. Although police stations operate support units for victims of domestic violence, the police generally do not intervene in domestic violence cases. Authorities have taken some action against perpetrators of sexual abuse in recent years, however.

Child sexual abuse is prevalent. According to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) annual report on Malawi for 2022, one in five girls and one in seven boys under the age of 18 have experienced sexual abuse. Traditional leaders have spoken out against, and in some cases forced the annulment of, underage marriages.

Income inequality remains a problem and inhibits economic mobility. Cost-of-living concerns were exacerbated in November 2023 when the Reserve Bank of Malawi devalued the kwacha by 44 percent, triggering massive commodity price increases. Extreme weather events, such as Cyclone Freddy in March 2023, reduced crop yields for the majority of Malawi’s subsistence farmers.

Enforcement of labor laws is weak, and employees are often paid extremely low wages, despite minimum-wage laws. Child labor is a persistent problem, particularly in tobacco estates.