The president of the Republic of Malawi (Chichewa: Mtsogoleri wa Dziko la Malawi; Tumbuka: Mlongozgi wa Charu cha MalaΕ΅i) is the head of state and head of government of Malawi. The president leads the executive branch of the Government of Malawi and is the commander-in-chief of the Malawian Defence Force. The current president is Peter Mutharika, who has served since being re-elected in September 2025.
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π President of Malawi in the context of Bakili Muluzi
Elson Bakili Muluzi (born 17 March 1943) is a Malawian politician who was President of Malawi from 1994 to 2004. He was also chairman of the United Democratic Front (UDF) until 2009. He succeeded Hastings Kamuzu Banda as Malawi's president. He also served in Banda's cabinet as minister without portfolio, before retiring in 1980.
Muluzi served as a minister in various ministerial portfolios and as secretary general of MCP for years until he was dismissed for abusing MCP party funds.
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President of Malawi in the context of Hastings Banda
Hastings Kamuzu Banda (c.β1898 or 1906 β 25 November 1997) was a Malawian politician and statesman who served as the leader of Malawi from 1964 to 1994. He served as Prime Minister from independence in 1964 to 1966, when Malawi was a Dominion/Commonwealth realm. In 1966, the country became a republic and he became the first president as a result, ruling until his defeat in 1994.
After receiving much of his education in ethnography, linguistics, history, and medicine overseas, Banda returned to Nyasaland to speak against colonialism and advocate for independence from the United Kingdom. He was formally appointed Prime Minister of Nyasaland and led the country to independence in 1964. Two years later, he proclaimed Malawi a republic with himself as the first president. He consolidated power and later declared Malawi a one-party state under the Malawi Congress Party (MCP). In 1970, the MCP made Banda the party's president for life. In 1971, he became president for life of Malawi itself. A renowned anti-communist leader in Africa, he received support from the Western Bloc during the Cold War. He generally supported women's rights, improved the country's infrastructure, and maintained a good educational system relative to other African countries.
President of Malawi in the context of 1994 Malawian general election
General elections were held in Malawi on 17 May 1994 to elect the President and National Assembly. They were the first multi-party elections in the country since prior to independence in 1964, and the first since the restoration of multi-party democracy the previous year. The Malawi Congress Party (MCP), which had governed the country since independence (from 1966 to 1993 as the sole legal party), was decisively beaten by the United Democratic Front (UDF).
MCP leader Hastings Banda, who had become president upon Malawi being proclaimed a republic in 1966 (he had served as Prime Minister from independence until 1966), ran in his first election since being stripped of his title of president for life in 1993. He was defeated by the UDF's Bakili Muluzi, who received 47% of the vote to Banda's 33%.