By Patrick Mwanza

Malawi’s politics remains trapped in dynasties, from the Muluzi and Mutharika families to the Chihanas of Aford. As 2025 elections approach under the 50+1 rule, voters face a critical choice: accept hand-me-down leaders or demand fresh solutions and credible leadership to deliver real change.

Former President Bakili Muluzi must have loved the presidency so much that, after serving two terms as allowed by the Constitution, he still sought a third. It was as if even the law could make room for him, given his important role in ushering in democracy and ending three decades of single-party rule under the Malawi Congress Party (MCP).

The man Muluzi handpicked as his successor, Bingu wa Mutharika, later broke away from the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF), citing interference from Muluzi and corruption in the rank and file of the UDF. Bingu formed the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which went on to secure him a second term. But Mutharika died unexpectedly in 2012, two years before his term ended. His vice president, Joyce Banda, took over and completed the remainder of the term. In 2014, Bingu’s brother, Peter Mutharika — a former advisor and cabinet minister in Bingu’s administration – won the election.

Three years before the 2019 elections, this writer suggested the possibility of Muluzi’s son, Atupele — then leader of the UDF — becoming Peter Mutharika’s running mate. By then, the UDF was a shadow of its former self, and Muluzi was widely seen as working behind the scenes to position his son, who had accepted a cabinet post in Mutharika’s administration, for the role.

Atupele did make his own bid for the presidency in the 2019 elections, running as the UDF’s torchbearer. He finished a distant fourth behind the declared winner, Peter Mutharika, MCP’s Lazarus Chakwera, and Saulos Chilima of the newly formed UTM party.

Chakwera and Chilima successfully challenged the results. The court annulled the election and ordered a fresh poll, introducing the requirement that the winner secure more than 50 percent of the vote.

In the rerun, Atupele joined Mutharika as his running mate, but the pair lost to Chakwera, who now had Chilima as his deputy on the ticket.

Let’s skip ahead to 2025, when, as we all know, the 50+1 rule will apply: MCP has no coalition partner, and there’s no realistic path for the party to win on its own. The MCP has acknowledged this and is actively seeking an alliance.

Enter the UDF, with Atupele as MCP’s potential partner and vice-presidential running mate. The logic, as echoed in political rallies, goes something like this: under MCP, long-running corruption charges against Muluzi were dropped — charges originally brought during Bingu’s presidency. MCP, in effect, restored Muluzi’s freedom. Now, it’s time for Muluzi — still the financial muscle behind the UDF — to return the favor.

It’s a proposition Muluzi would find hard to refuse, given how often he is seen as determined to see his son rise to the presidency. If Muluzi hadn’t held the office himself, one might argue he is simply living vicariously through his son. But the more fitting charge is that he’s actively working to establish a dynasty. 

In 2022, Atupele announced he was leaving politics “to go into business” and appointed executive member Lilian Patel “to lead the party as acting president until the next convention where my successor will be elected.” During a recent interview on Zodiak TV, when Joab Chakhaza asked him about the process that allowed him to reclaim the party’s leadership, Atupele was coy.

A similar pattern is seen in the Alliance for Democracy (Aford), now led by the son of its founding leader, Chakufwa Chihana. Chihana, like Muluzi, was once a key figure in breaking MCP’s grip on power. Yet today, Aford, too, reflects the same dynastic politics that limit Malawians’ chance to choose leaders based on merit rather than inheritance.

As Malawians reflect on their future, the question they must ask – and The Forum agrees – is this: will they simply accept leaders presented to them, or will they choose, with clear eyes, those they believe will serve the people’s interests?