MALAWI: Mid-Term Budget Passed & more – 2nd Dec 2025

Muli bwanji from BA! This is the Rorshok Malawi Update from the 2nd of December twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Malawi.

Parliament passed the Mid-Term Budget worth 8.6 trillion Kwacha, which is nearly 5 billion dollars. This is a slight increase from the 8 trillion Kwacha budget (4.6 billion dollars) that the government was operating on earlier.

While explaining the budgetary allocations on Monday the 1st, Joseph Mwanamvekha, the Finance Minister, said that the government had increased allocations for institutions that had used up their funds before the end of the year, like the Office of the Vice President. He also said the new figures account for the Farm Input Subsidy Programme, the country’s debt, and gratuities for retired government employees.

A few weeks ago, we mentioned that President Peter Mutharika announced austerity measures, including some that restrict government travel. Yet, Enock Chihana, the country’s Second Vice President, has since made over fifteen trips across the country’s three regions since the announcement, leading people to question his compliance to the measures.

On Monday the 1st, local media said Chihana’s movements are concerning since his office does not have an official budget or any access to public funds. When questioned, Chihana’s Principal Secretary said the second office is receiving financial support from the Office of the President and Cabinet, and that Chihana uses his personal money to fund other trips.

However, some people feel Mutharika was not ready to introduce the office of the Second Vice President, and that their current operations leave gaps for the abuse of public funds and office.

According to a report by The African Development Bank, or AfDB, in May twenty twenty-five, Malawi had a 3% growth projection, but in the November update, it went down to 2.2%, because of several issues, including inefficiencies in government institutions.

The Treasury also reduced its growth projections from 2.8% in May to 2.7% in November during last week’s twenty twenty-five/twenty twenty-six Mid-Year Budget Review, which we covered in our last episode. The Ministry of Finance said fuel and forex shortages affected growth in key sectors like manufacturing, but were hopeful that the economy would improve by 3.8% in twenty twenty-six after the government invests in sectors like agriculture, tourism, and mining.

Malawi is one of thirteen countries with lower growth projections in the AfDB’s November report.

Some people might lose their jobs following an announcement by the UN, saying that they have reduced their twenty twenty-six budget by nearly 580 million dollars and will fire over 2,600 staff across their agencies worldwide.

On Tuesday the 2nd, António Guterres, the UN Secretary General, said key member states like the US, China, and Russia had not paid their contributions, which prompted the organization’s move.

Things will get worse in twenty twenty-seven, as the UN plans to shut down two of its office buildings at its New York headquarters to reduce its operations and save 25 million dollars.

In Malawi, people working at organizations like UN Women, UNICEF, and the WHO may be affected.

Last week we reported that the government was transferring managers from various state-owned companies to civilian roles, and that five authorities from the Malawi Defense Force were the latest victims.

On Saturday the 29th, local news reported that several District Commissioners were the new targets, as the Ministry of Local Government had moved them to civilian roles, which local news did not mention.

When questioned, the Ministry told local news that the redeployments are a normal procedure to help the government operate more efficiently.

Some authorities are fighting back on the changes.

The government’s Chief Secretary tried to redeploy five Commissioners from the Malawi Police Service to serve in various government ministries, but the five got a High Court injunction to stop the move. It was granted, so the government might have to defend itself in court.

On Monday the 1st of December, Prince Phwetekere, an Executive Director at the Higher Education Students Loans and Grants Board, refused to be seconded to serve as a lecturer at Domasi College of Education in Zomba in the Southern Region. It is the second time he has refused.

He has since had multiple public dialogues with the Office of the President concerning his secondment, and neither of them is backing down.

Someone stole four dogs from the State House during the transition from the previous government to the current one, and people are wondering if former president Chakwera is responsible.

On Wednesday the 26th, the Police released a statement saying they had deepened their investigations into the theft of various property from Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe in the Central Region, which we covered in previous episodes. The statement said they arrested the former Director of Security of State Residences, who is the top suspect of the stolen dogs. The police also searched Chakwera’s house in Area 10.

Their statement debunked rumors that Chakwera stole the dogs, but some people are pinning the theft on him anyway.

During his term, Chakwera amended two Acts which changed how Malawi buys fuel, despite many MPs telling him it would sabotage transparency and encourage corruption.

Under the new law, the Ministry of Energy could buy fuel without consulting oversight bodies. As a result, its minister signed Government-to-Government deals with Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Bahrain. He believed this would reduce fuel costs, but it made transporting fuel from those countries to Malawi very hard, compared to moving it from neighboring countries.

Now, the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining, said they are in the process of reversing the amended Acts, so that Malawi can go back to an open tender system to buy fuel, to fix the ongoing fuel shortage.

Malawi launched its observation of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence with shocking statistics revealing that three in four women in Malawi experience cyberbullying. According to local news, cyberbullying in Malawi usually takes various forms, such as fake stories, nudes, and leaked pictures and videos that violate the privacy, autonomy, and dignity of women and girls.

During the activism launch, held on Tuesday the 2nd, Gender Activists said digital platforms are rife with gender-based abuses, and urged the government to consider making and enforcing more digital-centered laws.

They feel that the Cyber Security Act, which was passed in twenty seventeen, is not enough.

In trending news, people were shocked by a bizarre update that a thirty-two-year-old woman gave birth to a 250-gram stone, which is nearly ten ounces.

The event happened on Wednesday the 26th at Matandani Hospital in Neno district in the Southern Region. James Wayile, the Senior Doctor at the hospital, said the woman had shown signs of pregnancy and labor, but when they took her to deliver her baby, a stone came out instead.

He said the hospital would conduct tests to find out what caused this. However, some Facebook comments on the story suggested that this might be a rare case of Lithopedion, which happens when a fetus dies during pregnancy and is calcified in the womb instead of being miscarried.

On that note about hospitals, The Kamuzu Central Hospital is currently not offering its dialysis services.

On Friday the 28th, the Hospital said their supplier delayed servicing their machines, causing over sixty patients to be transferred to private hospitals within Lilongwe city where they can receive help.

The Ministry said they would pay the dialysis bills. Each patient’s session costs about 300 thousand Kwacha, which is over 170 dollars. Even though it is a convenient alternative, public experts have urged the Ministry to fix their machines quickly, as it may cost the government a lot of money in the long run.

Esau Kanyenda, a former international football star commonly known as Black Mamba, died in the early hours of Tuesday the 2nd. The day prior, Kanyenda shared his battle with liver cancer on his Facebook page, and asked people to pray for him as he received treatment in the UK, where he lived. Local and international media revealed that Kanyenda had been ill for the past three months.

The announcement of his sickness brought commotion as some media and influencer platforms shared news of his death before he died, causing confusion and anger amongst locals. Other publications stepped in to discredit the news.

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

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Pitani bwino!