MALAWI: Final Cabinet & more – 4th Nov 2025

Muli bwanji from BA! This is the Rorshok Malawi Update from the 4th of November twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Malawi.

President Mutharika unveiled his twenty-four-member Cabinet on Thursday the 30th of October. In previous episodes, we mentioned that the president had shared his partial cabinet, but this time, it looks like he has all his ducks in a row.

The new cabinet includes familiar names such as Jappie Mhango, Peter Mukhito, and Bright Msaka, raising concerns among some locals that Mutharika is still associating himself with people who have questionable characters, since they have some corruption stories tied to them.

For instance, Norman Chisale, the new Deputy Minister of Homeland Security, has an ongoing court case because he accumulated billions of Kwachas when he served as Mutharika’s security personnel between twenty fourteen and twenty nineteen, but he couldn't explain where he got them.

Unfortunately, Mutharika will have to appoint a new Principal Secretary for the Ministry of Lands, as the newly appointed one passed away unexpectedly.

Wezi Kayira, whom Mutharika appointed last month, died on Thursday the 30th in a private hospital in Lilongwe in the Central Region. It is unclear whether he had been sick and hospitalized for a while, or what he was suffering from.

This raised questions about foul play, but the government has yet to comment on this. Instead, government officials have been sending their condolences to the Kayira family.

The ruling Democratic Progressive Party and the Malawi Congress Party had stiff competition during the election of the new Speaker of Parliament. In the end, Sameer Suleman of the ruling party came out on top, earning 134 votes of the total 221 votes. His closest contender, Peter Dimba, got only eighty-five votes.

On Wednesday the 29th, the day of the elections, Members of Parliament also elected Victor Musowa as the First Deputy Speaker, and Esther Jolobala as the Second Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly.

The election of the Speakers of the National Assembly was part of the ongoing fifty-second Session of Parliament, which we spoke about in our previous episode.

In previous episodes, we reported that over four million people are at risk of experiencing hunger from now up to next year. However, the government has been working to cushion the impact of hunger. For instance, the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development launched a twenty twenty-five–twenty twenty-six Lean Season Food Insecurity Response Program worth over 200 billion Kwacha, which is 115 million dollars.

On Saturday the 1st of November, the Ministry said some partners, including the World Food Programme, the World Bank, the United States Agency for International Development, and Irish Aid, stepped in and gave Malawi forty-six billion Kwacha, which is twenty-seven million dollars, to buy food and give the most vulnerable households cash transfers.

The health sector will also get some breathing room because the Norwegian government gave Malawi a grant worth nearly thirty-two billion dollars.

Local news said nearly 20 million dollars will go towards the Health Services Joint Fund up to twenty twenty-eight, while the remaining money will go towards the country's food relief efforts.

While commenting on the grant, which was signed on Monday the 3rd, the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development said the funds will go a long way towards reducing some of the problems locals are currently facing.

The country's health sector took a hit after the US withdrew its funding.

The government is also working internally to reduce the ongoing food insecurity, which is mainly a result of climate shocks.

On Friday the 31st of October, the president announced that the price of fertilizer sold under the Farm Inputs Subsidy Programme should be ten thousand Kwacha, which is six dollars, for a fifty-kilogram bag, which is approximately 110 pounds, to make farm inputs affordable for smallholder farmers. Unsubsidized fertilizer prices were roughly 100 thousand Kwacha, which is about sixty dollars.

He also addressed other major challenges, such as the forex shortage and high inflation, and said he is working on them. He revealed his plans to industrialize six key sectors, including pharmaceuticals, mineral processing, textile and apparel, saying they are drivers of growth and jobs.

Unfortunately, the promise to create jobs seems far-fetched, especially now that the National Economic Empowerment Fund has terminated its Internship Program, resulting in the loss of paid internships for multiple youths across the country.

According to a leaked document making the rounds on social media, the termination will become effective on Friday the 7th, because of some changes in the Fund’s operational priorities and staffing requirements.

This development comes a month after the government ordered that the Fund’s Lilongwe offices be closed indefinitely.

Changing gears, long fuel queues are back, and they have left the entire country paralyzed.

On Monday the 3rd, local media said both petrol and diesel are in low supply, forcing drivers to spend hours in long queues, and sometimes even sleeping at gas stations in hopes that a fuel tanker will find them there.

Some anonymous employees at the National Oil Company of Malawi said the Company owes its international fuel suppliers millions of dollars, which they have not been able to pay because the government has no forex.

Unfortunately, locals are bearing the effects of that, as transport fares have increased due to the fuel shortage.

To make things worse, the Milk Producers Association of Malawi has hinted at a possible shortage of its own.

On Monday the 3rd, they told local media that the ongoing fuel shortage is affecting their milk production. They warned that, if it continues, they will not be able to meet their daily milk production of 167 thousand liters.

The Association also complained that the persistent blackouts also make it hard for them to work, and have since affected about seventeen percent of their daily milk production.

If there’s a milk shortage, it will affect the production of pastries and confectionery, making them more expensive or creating a shortage of things like scones and cakes.

In other episodes, we mentioned that there were violent political attacks on people who demonstrated against the previous government before the general elections. The police have since arrested fifteen suspects who disrupted and beat demonstrators.

On Monday the 3rd, local news said the fifteen have many serious charges against them, such as acts intended to cause grievous harm, robbery, arson, and demanding property with intent to steal.

Locals have been following the arrests very keenly, as they believe that it will take down people who tried to silence and intimidate anyone who wasn't on their side because they were connected to the previous government.

On a sad note… Ashukile Mwakisulu, one of the country's prominent actors, passed away on Monday the 3rd.

According to his family, Mwakisulu died in a private hospital in Blantyre in the Southern Region after a short illness. Colleagues from the country's film and arts industries are sharing their condolences on social media, recalling how much of a passionate actor and producer Mwakisulu was.

He was best known for his roles in The Last Fishing Boat movie and the recently released Gunless Soldier.

You can watch The Last Fishing Boat on YouTube. Check out the link in the show notes.

Closing this edition with some sports news, The Football Association of Malawi is so happy that the Scorchers, the women's national football team, made it to the twenty twenty-six Women’s African Cup of Nations, that they have promised to give each Scorchers player 1.5 million Kwacha, over 860 dollars, in recognition of their qualification.

On Wednesday the 29th, the Association told local media that the team was so dedicated, disciplined, and they put in so much work, and they want to appreciate them for representing Malawi with excellence.

The Scorchers secured their place in the upcoming continental competition after scoring two goals to nil against Angola. That win secured their spot among other successful countries like neighboring Zambia and Tanzania.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

We have some new t-shirts coming out soon, just in time for Christmas! Stay tuned!

Pitani bwino!