Government

Government#

presidential republic

System

presidential republic

Capital

Lilongwe

Head of state

President Peter MUTHARIKA (since 4 October 2025)

Head of government

President Peter MUTHARIKA (since 4 October 2025)

Legislature

legislature name: National Assembly; legislative structure: unicameral; number of seats: 229 (all directly elected); electoral system: plurality/majority; scope of elections: full renewal; term in office: 5 years; most recent election date: 9/16/2025; parties elected and seats per party: Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) (78); Malawi Congress Party (MCP) (52); Independents (73); Other (21); percentage of women in chamber: 21.4%; expected date of next election: September 2025

Judiciary

highest court(s): Supreme Court of Appeal (consists of the chief justice and at least 3 judges); judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court chief justice appointed by the president and confirmed by the National Assembly; other judges appointed by the president on the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission, which regulates judicial officers; judges serve until age 65; subordinate courts: High Court; magistrate courts; Industrial Relations Court; district and city traditional or local courts

Constitution

history: previous 1953 (pre-independence), 1964, 1966; latest drafted January to May 1994, approved 16 May 1994, entered into force 18 May 1995; amendment process: proposed by the National Assembly; passage of amendments affecting constitutional articles, including the sovereignty and territory of the state, fundamental constitutional principles, human rights, voting rights, and the judiciary, requires majority approval in a referendum and majority approval by the Assembly; passage of other amendments requires at least two-thirds majority vote of the Assembly

Independence

6 July 1964 (from the UK)

Administrative divisions

28 districts; Balaka, Blantyre, Chikwawa, Chiradzulu, Chitipa, Dedza, Dowa, Karonga, Kasungu, Likoma, Lilongwe, Machinga, Mangochi, Mchinji, Mulanje, Mwanza, Mzimba, Neno, Ntcheu, Nkhata Bay, Nkhotakota, Nsanje, Ntchisi, Phalombe, Rumphi, Salima, Thyolo, Zomba

Departments#

TODO. Ministries and authoritative sites, to be filled out.

Hierarchy#

How power is wired. The diagram below carries the generic template; refine the boxes and edges to match the current regime.

        flowchart TD
  HoS["Head of State"]
  HoG["Head of Government"]
  Leg["Legislature"]
  Jud["Judiciary"]
  Cab["Cabinet"]
  Foreign["Foreign Affairs"]
  Interior["Interior"]
  Defense["Defense"]
  Finance["Finance"]
  Justice["Justice"]

  HoS --> HoG
  HoG --> Cab
  Cab --> Foreign
  Cab --> Interior
  Cab --> Defense
  Cab --> Finance
  Cab --> Justice
  HoS -.- Leg
  HoS -.- Jud

Resources#

Public-facing portals the people use day to day. Operators monitor these for policy changes, official notices, and civil-registry data.

Resource

Site

Purpose

National portal

to be filled

One-stop government services for citizens.

Tax / revenue

to be filled

Income tax, VAT, customs.

Civil registry

to be filled

Births, deaths, marriages, national ID.

Immigration

to be filled

Visas, residency, naturalisation.

Health

to be filled

Public health, advisories, vaccination records.

Education

to be filled

Curricula, school directories, transcripts.

Statistics

to be filled

Census, economic indicators, opendata.

Police / emergency

to be filled

Reporting, missing persons, emergency contacts.
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