Newly elected president, Peter Mutharika, announced on 19 October that from January 2026 secondary school education would be free, a policy he said was intended to remove the financial barriers that keep many children in Malawi out of school. According to data from the Ministry of Education, only 43 per cent of primary school students transitioned to public secondary schools in 2022. Primary education has been free in Malawi since 1994. While analysts generally welcomed the policy change as being potentially transformative, many warned about the impact that it could have on the country’s already overburdened educational system without adequate planning and resources. Teacher-pupil ratios can reach 1:100 in some schools and public schools are currently heavily dependent on fees.     

Sources: Nyasa Times (1), Data for Impact, Nyasa Times (2), Nation Online   

On 16 September, Malawi held general elections for the presidency and the National Assembly. The presidential contest was won by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate, Peter Mutharika, who had previously served as president between 2014 and 2020 and received 56.8 per cent of the vote. The runner up, with 33.0 per cent, was incumbent Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP). By the end of September, the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) had declared the parliamentary election results for 224 of the 229 constituencies (although many are being challenged). These showed DPP had won 77 (33.6 per cent) of the 229 National Assembly seats, followed by independent candidates (71 seats; 31.0 per cent) and the MCP (53 seats; 23.1 per cent). The share of women contesting the parliamentary elections was 21.9 per cent and only one of the 17 presidential candidates was a woman. The MEC reported presidential election turnout to be 76.4 per cent (up from 64.8 in 2020). International election observers found the elections were generally peaceful and well conducted but noted several logistical issues, particularly the late opening of polling stations. 

Sources: Nation Online (1), Nyasa Times, European Union (1), Nation Online (2), International IDEA, Southern African Development Community, African Union - Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa      

Voter turnout in Malawi’s presidential election reached the highest level since 2009. According to data released by the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), 76.4 per cent of registered voters cast their ballot in the presidential contest, an 11.6 percentage point increase on turnout from the previous presidential election in 2020 (64.8 per cent). Analysts have ascribed the increase to voter frustration over the country’s cost of living crisis, as well as renewed confidence in the MEC.

Sources: Nation Online, Nyasa Times, International IDEA

On 3 September, President Lazarus Chakwera signed into law the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections Amendment Act, a piece of legislation intended to facilitate election day workers to cast their ballots. It does so by empowering the electoral commission to authorise workers (polling staff, political party agents, candidate representatives and members of the security forces) to vote where they are deployed, rather than having to return to the constituency in which they are registered. According to the government, the law is expected to enfranchise 80,000 of these voters. However, the law’s explicit exclusion of journalists and independent observers has been criticised by opposition parties and civil society, who have emphasised the important role these groups play in ensuring the integrity of elections. The law was enacted less than two weeks before the country’s general elections on 16 September.  

Sources: Parliament of Malawi, ISS Africa, Malawi 24    

In a report released on 5 August, the Malawi Human Rights Commission revealed that prisoners at the country’s Mikuyu 1 Prison had been subjected to serious human rights abuses. The Commission’s investigation, carried out in January 2025, confirmed the death of one inmate from traumatic injury and found allegations that five inmates had been tortured to death and then buried in secret. It also established that prison staff had sanctioned beatings by prisoners against other inmates, that more than 100 prisoners were severely malnourished and that the abuses had contributed to a mental health crisis within the facility.

Sources: Malawi Human Rights Commission, Nation Online 

On 16 July, Malawi’s Constitutional Court delivered a judgement striking down a section of the penal code criminalising defamation, finding that it was a disproportionate and unjustified restriction on freedom of expression and therefore unconstitutional. The ruling, which took had immediate effect, prohibits further prosecutions under the offending provision. It was welcomed by the Malawian chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa, which said that the threat of prosecution for defamation had had a chilling effect on journalists, activists and ordinary citizens. The case was brought by social media activist, Joshua Chisa Mbele, who had been charged with defaming Malawi’s then-Army Commander, General Vincent Nundwe. 

Sources: Southern African Litigation Centre (1), Centre for Human Rights - University of Pretoria, Africa Legal, Southern African Litigation Centre (2)