MALAWI: The Age Limit Bill & more – 11th Feb 2025

The Malawi Congress Party (or MCP) wants to propose the Age Limit Bill, which puts the cut-off age for presidential candidates at seventy-five to ensure youthful leaders. However, the draft bill has been put into question since the government might be grasping for power — and many aren’t having it.

Some media houses and human rights bodies accused the MCP of segregation, and political parties like the Democratic Progressive Party (or DPP) think the government is trying to eliminate them from the presidential race.

The Age Limit Bill was first proposed in twenty nineteen by the opposing United Transformation Movement, but it didn’t pass. The proposed cut-off age for presidential candidates then was sixty-five – which made Peter Mutharika, the DPP’s leader and former Malawi president, and Chakwera, ineligible. Now, with the proposed age of seventy-five, Mutharika becomes ineligible, while President Chakwera conveniently remains eligible, although he wasn’t during the first proposal of the bill.

Meanwhile, the Malawi Electoral Commission (or MEC) report released on Wednesday the 5th, said that over 7.2 million people registered to vote in the upcoming September elections. This represents a little over sixty-five percent of the registered voters that the National Statistical Office had projected. They had forecasted nearly eleven million people.

MEC’s report did not say why other citizens did not register to vote in the elections. However, they said this is a preliminary report, and that the figures might change slightly.

At the moment, most of the registered voters are from Lilongwe District in the Central Region, with over 400 thousand registered voters. The district with the lowest number of registered voters is Likoma in the Northern Region.

Five thousand local jobs are hanging by a thread following President Donald Trump’s order to dismantle the United States Agency for International Development (or USAID).

On Wednesday the 5th, local news said that USAID was providing nearly 290 million dollars to almost all sectors in Malawi. It also funded over thirty-five initiatives.

Despite the development, the government seems positive that foreign donors will come to Malawi’s rescue. Last week, Moses Kunkuyu, the Government Spokesperson, told local media that rich countries are still interested in supporting Malawi’s development agendas, but there’s skepticism. Some comments on social media indicate that people feel this is a great time for the country to learn to stand on its own.

Shifting gears, in our last episode, we mentioned that electricity tariffs had gone up. Now, on Saturday the 8th, local news said that the country’s regional water boards submitted proposals to increase their tariffs, too.

Local news said the Northern Region Water Board wants to up its tariffs by 55%, the Central Region Water Board wants a 45% increase, and the Southern Region Water Board wants to increase its tariffs by 35%. All of them said the upward adjustments are important for achieving full cost recovery.

Even though there’s a general understanding of why the water boards want to increase their tariffs, many are worried they won't survive the rising cost of living.

In other news, the High Court banned the use of thin plastics as of Monday the 10th. This means that the local production, distribution, importation and sale of thin plastics is now illegal and that all violators will face legal consequences.

The Malawi Environment Protection Authority and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change collaborated to initiate the ban, saying thin plastics are harmful to the environment.

The ban might not be effective, since the first ban on thin plastics happened in twenty fifteen, but manufacturers of thin plastics challenged it in court, thus giving them leeway to still produce the plastics while the case was drawn out in court.

On Thursday the 6th, the President - who also serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Malawi Defence Force - ordered the withdrawal of Malawian troops from the Democratic Republic of Congo (or DRC).

On Monday the 3rd, one of the warring parties in the DRC unrest, the M23 rebels, announced that they would cease fire on Tuesday the 4th, hence the President’s order.

Local news said Malawi had contributed troops as part of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in DRC, to help stabilize the conflict-ridden region.

The Ministry of Transport wants to construct a railway line that connects Malawi and Tanzania.

On Monday the 10th, Jacob Hara, the Minister of Transport, said the line will run from Chilumba in Karonga District in the Northern Region to Mbeya in Tanzania, and will be part of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority railway line, which links the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania with the city of Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia.

He said the line would facilitate transport between the countries by connecting to major cargo centers.

On another note, The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority launched the Child Online Protection (or COP) Initiative in Lilongwe on Friday the 7th.

Monica Chakwera, the First Lady and Ambassador of the COP Initiative, called for increased multi-sectoral vigilance to protect children in the evolving digital landscape. She said that, while the COP Initiative will work towards ensuring children have access to safe online environments, key players like guardians also have a role to play.

During the event, Moses Kunkuyu, the Information and Digitization Minister, said the Initiative aligns with the Ministry’s mission to expand access to internet usage, and it'll offer protection in online spaces.

In some tragic news, Lucius Chikuni passed away on Monday the 10th in Blantyre in the Southern Region. He was eighty-four. Local news did not say how or why he passed, but they mentioned he had been admitted to the Mwaiwathu Hospital in the city.

Chikuni is not only celebrated for being a familiar voice on the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation and Zodiak radio stations. He is especially celebrated for writing the famous Adaferanji play - meaning Why did he die? - to honor and preserve the legacy of John Chilembwe, who was Malawi’s freedom fighter. He also created several radio sweepers for stations across the country.

Several people have shared their condolences both on mainstream and social media.

Mary Chilima, widow to Saulos Chilima, the late Vice President, said she will launch the Saulos Klaus Chilima Foundation, which is a non-partisan and non-political organization aimed at fulfilling the vision and goals of the departed Vice President.

On Wednesday the 5th, Mary told local news that the Foundation would be launched in Lilongwe through a gala event on Wednesday the 12th, which would have been Chilima’s 52nd birthday. She also said the Foundation would serve as a beacon of hope, progress and empowerment for Malawians, and that it will promote education, self-reliance and leadership.

On Monday the 10th, local news announced that President Chakwera had been invited to the event. Many locals were surprised since there were rumors that the President was involved in Chilima’s death.

Speaking of President Chakwera, he launched the construction of the thirty-four Schools of Excellence - a project set to transform Malawi’s education landscape. The idea is to bridge the gap between rural and urban education by providing quality teaching resources, modern facilities, and learning environments driven by technology.

On Saturday the 8th, local news said education experts think the Schools of Excellence will increase literacy levels and fix long-standing issues, such as overcrowded classrooms.

Even though this is arguably the President's biggest move regarding education since he came into office in twenty twenty, it might be a way of garnering support for the presidential elections.

More news on education since Tionge Mtambo, a local teacher at Tondola Primary School in Chitipa District in the Northern Region, is on the top ten list of finalists being considered for the twenty twenty-five Global Teacher Prize. This is the second time he made it to the finals, following her win in twenty twenty-two.

Local news said that Mtambo has beaten over 5 thousand nominees from eighty-nine countries. Mtambo, who survived child marriage herself, uses her teaching role to also challenge common issues like child marriage, poverty and gender inequality. She initiated programs like girls’ hostels, literacy-boosting spelling bees, and school feeding programs, which help over 15 thousand girls.

If she wins, Mtambo will get a whopping one million dollar grand prize.

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

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Pitani bwino!