Malawi
Malawi, 1964 to today. Draft, not yet reviewed
In 1964, Nyasaland became independent under Prime Minister Hastings Banda and was renamed Malawi. Under a new constitution, Malawi became a republic in 1966 with Banda as its first president. The new government formally made Malawi a one-party state with the MCP as the only legal party. After the introduction of a multi-party system in 1993, Banda lost the 1994 general election, and the country has continued to experience peaceful transitions of power.
Seat of power: Lilongwe
Rulers
Hastings Banda
President of Malawi, 1966–1994
He served as the leader of Malawi from 1964 to 1994. In 1966, the country became a republic and he became the first president as a result, ruling until his defeat in 1994. In 1971, he became president for life of Malawi itself.
Portrait of Hastings Banda: National Archives of Malawi, CC BY-SA 4.0, file
Bakili Muluzi
President of Malawi, 1994–2004
He was President of Malawi from 1994 to 2004. Muluzi was the candidate of the opposition UDF in the May 1994 presidential election, the country's first multiparty election. He won the election with 47% of the vote, defeating Malawi's leader since independence, Hastings Kamuzu Banda.
Portrait of Bakili Muluzi: L. Masina for VOA, Public domain, file
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Bingu wa Mutharika
President of Malawi, 2004–2012
He served as the third president of Malawi from 2004 until his death in 2012. During Mutharika's first term, Malawi's economy experienced steady growth, inflation fell, and the poverty rate declined.
Portrait of Bingu wa Mutharika: US Gov, Public domain, file
Joyce Banda
President of Malawi, 2012–2014
She served as the 4th President of Malawi from 2012-2014. She was the first female president and the first female vice-president of Malawi.
Portrait of Joyce Banda: EU Election Observation Mission Malawi 2025, Attribution, file
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Peter Mutharika
President of Malawi, 2014–2020
He served as the fifth president from 2014 to 2020. He has also been leading the DPP since 2012.
Portrait of Peter Mutharika: DFID - UK Department for International Development, CC BY 2.0, file
Lazarus Chakwera
President of Malawi, 2020–2025
He served as the sixth president of Malawi from 2020 to 2025. He has been the president of his party, the Malawi Congress Party, since 2013. In February 2020, the Constitutional Court annulled the election results citing irregularities and a rerun election was held, where Chakwera won.
Portrait of Lazarus Chakwera: Scotland Malawi Partnership, CC BY-SA 4.0, file
Peter Mutharika
President of Malawi, 2025 to today
He has been the seventh president of Malawi since 2025. He is a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the younger brother of the third president, Bingu wa Mutharika.
Portrait of Peter Mutharika: DFID - UK Department for International Development, CC BY 2.0, file
Culture
- Lake Malawi is home to more species of fish than any other lake in the world, including at least 700 species of cichlid.
- Malawi has a democratic, multi-party republic headed by an elected president.
- The name Malawi was chosen by the first president of Malawi, Hastings Banda, after the country achieved its independence from Great Britain in 1964.
- Zomba is the former capital city of Malawi, and Lilongwe became the capital in 1974.
Picture
Lake Malawi is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.
Image: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Public domain, file
Sources
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.