The Republic of Malawi (formerly known as Nyasaland) is in south-east Africa. The capital is Lilongwe but Blantyre is the financial and commercial hub. It  is named after the birthplace in Scotland of David Livingstone, the remarkable 19th Century explorer. Malawi is known as "the warm heart of Africa", a reflection on its friendly people, despite a difficult life. Traditional beliefs continue; native culture includes sports, art, dance and music. The official language, Chichewa, is spoken by the majority of the population. Primary school teaching switches from Chichewa to English in Standard 5.

Political situation

Malawi has been a mostly a peaceful and stable country since gaining independence in 1964. General elections are held every five years.

The Presidential election of May 2019 was ruled invalid by the Court in January 2020. Despite extreme efforts by Peter Mutharika to become President after his brother Bingu's death in 2012, the Constitution prevailed and Joyce Banda, who had been Vice President, was installed. Unfortunately this was only for two years because a Presidential election was due. Apart from those two years, the poor people of Malawi had  had the two Mutharika brothers as Presidents since 2004. President Peter Mutharika was re-elected by just under 159,000 votes in May 2019. Opposition candidates Lazarus Chakwera, who came second, and Saulos Chilima, who finished third, took it to the Constitutional Court to argue that the election was not fair.

In February 2020, the court annulled Mr Mutharika's victory in the May 2019 election, citing vote tampering. They said that the evidence of rigging was so widespread and blatant that "the integrity of the result was severely compromised". In court, lawyers for the losing candidates said that correction fluid - known by the brand name Tipp-Ex - had been used on some of the tallying forms sent in by polling stations.

Nine opposition parties formed the Tonse Alliance and in March the two main Opposition parties formed an electoral alliance. In the rerun of the election, Lazarus Chakwera was a candidate with Saulos Chilima as his running mate. The winner had to get 50% +1 vote. There was much rejoicing in the streets of Malawi following the official announcement on Saturday 27th June 2020 of the election of Lazarus Chakwera as the new President of Malawi. The next General Election is due to be held in September 2025.

Some Geographical Information

Malawi is a beautiful country with varied landscape from the north border with Tanzania over 500 miles to the southern border with Mozambique; the northwest borders Zambia. Lake Malawi is sometimes called the Calendar Lake, being about 365 miles long and 52 miles wide. About 20% of the surface area of Malawi is fresh water. Malawi products include tobacco, sugarcane, cotton, tea, corn, potatoes, sorghum, cattle and goats. However, very many items have to be imported and, since Malawi is landlocked, importing can be both problematic and expensive. Since devaluation of the Malawian kwacha, imported goods have become very expensive, with the additional cost of fuel (itself an import) adding further to the cost.

Malawi remains one of poorest countries in the world. The Human Development Index (see footnote), a measure of Life Expectancy, Education and Income, shows Malawi still in the low development group - ranked at 172  out of the 193 countries in 2024, according to statistics published annually by UN. The population is estimated to be about 20 million.

Education indices have improved since Primary Education became free in 1994. Before that, many were unable to afford Primary education. The enrolment in Primary education doubled in the 1990’s. This exacerbated the lack of teachers, educational materials, poor conditions in schools and for teachers, all of which continue to be major problems. Secondary Education is for 4 years and a University Bachelor degree is 4 years.

Despite improvements in indices for Primary education since 1994, there are many young adults with little education - the average time at school for adults over the age of 25 in Malawi is still only 5.2 years as seen in the latest UN figure. This report also shows that there is a discrepancy in the mean years of schooling for males (6.4 years) and for females (4.3 years). Our schools have about equal numbers of males and females..

Health

Life expectancy at birth has risen and is now about 67 years but grey or white hair is rarely seen. Many babies and children die before age 5. Pregnancy is a dangerous state and maternal mortality is high as in many other poor countries. Gastro-enteritis is common and can be lethal (unsafe water, lack of education and of hygiene). Worms, TB, malaria, as well as AIDS and other tropical diseases take their toll.

 Health care provision is poor - 1 doctor per 65,000 people: equivalent to 120 doctors for the whole of Greater London, or 12 doctors for Leeds or 8 for Edinburgh. Doctors tend to be centred in towns and cities but 80% to 85% of the population live in rural areas.