Malawi: Malawi Government Profile

President: Peter Mutharika

Peter Mutharika won the presidential election in May 2014, two year after his brother died while serving as president.

The law professor took over the leadership facing treason charges for attempting to conceal his brother's death in an alleged bid to prevent Joyce Banda - then vice-president - from assuming power.

He describes the charges as frivolous and politically motivated.

As a former foreign minister and his brother's right-hand man, he was also a leading member of an administration widely blamed for bringing the economy to its knees through years of mismanagement.

At the time of Bingu wa Mutharika's death in 2012, stores were often empty, service stations dry and, shunned by international donors, Malawi had largely depleted its currency reserves.

On taking office the new president said his priorities were the economy and youth employment.

Mr Mutharika - aged 74 at the time of taking office - won the poll with just over 36% of the vote, beating the outgoing leader Joyce Banda into third place.
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Malawi officially became a republic on 6 July 1966, and its initial constitution was adopted that year. The current constitution took result on 18 May 1995 reaffirming the president as the chief of national and supreme executive authority. In July 2003, he led a 38-member cabinet. Legislative power is vested in a unicameral parliament comprising a National Assembly of 193 seats with members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms

As of 1996, Malawi was divided into three administrative regions—Northern, Central, and Southern—which were subdivided into 24 districts. District councils provide markets, postal agencies, roads, and rural water supplies and exercise control over business premises and the brewing and sale of beer. Additional significant, however, are the councils' responsibilities for primary education. Some of the councils run public health clinics. Council expenditures are mainly financed from direct government education grants, calculated to meet the salaries of teachers in most of the district schools. Other sources of revenue include annual taxes on all males over the age of 17 years who are residents in the district and charges for services rendered.

Town councils have powers similar to those of the district councils, but with better emphasis on the problems that arise in urban areas. Their major functions are sewerage, removal of refuse, the abatement of nuisances, construction and maintenance of roads, and, in some cases, the provision of fire-fighting services. Revenue for town councils comes mainly from direct taxes on property.