POLITICIANS from Malawi

Top 7

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Malawian Politicians of all time. This list of famous Malawian Politicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Lazarus Chakwera (b. 1955)

With an HPI of 63.20, Lazarus Chakwera is the most famous Malawian Politician.  His biography has been translated into 39 different languages on wikipedia.

Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera (born 5 April 1955) is a Malawian politician and theologian who has served as President of Malawi since June 2020. He has served as the leader of the Malawi Congress Party since 2013. He was President of the Malawi Assemblies of God from 1989 to 2013. Previously, Chakwera was the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly following highly controversial elections held on 21 May 2019 which were overturned by the Constitutional Court. He was appointed chairman of SADC on 17 August at the SADC 41st Annual Summit held on 9 August to 19 August 2021 in Lilongwe, Malawi.

2. Hastings Banda (1898 - 1997)

With an HPI of 57.22, Hastings Banda is the 2nd most famous Malawian Politician.  His biography has been translated into 65 different languages.

Hastings Kamuzu Banda (c. 1898 – 25 November 1997) was 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 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 him 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. However, he presided over one of the most repressive regimes in Africa, an era that saw political opponents regularly tortured and murdered. Human rights groups estimate that at least 6,000 people were killed, tortured and jailed without trial. As many as 18,000 people were killed during his rule, according to one estimate. His rule has been characterised as a "highly repressive autocracy." He also received criticism for maintaining full diplomatic relations with the apartheid government in South Africa. By 1993, amid increasing domestic and international pressure, he agreed to hold a referendum which ended the one-party system. Soon afterwards, a special assembly ended his life-term presidency and stripped him of most of his powers. Banda ran for president in the democratic elections that followed and was defeated. He died in South Africa in 1997.

3. Joyce Banda (b. 1950)

With an HPI of 54.14, Joyce Banda is the 3rd most famous Malawian Politician.  Her biography has been translated into 62 different languages.

Joyce Hilda Banda (née Ntila; born 12 April 1950) is a Malawian politician, who served as President of Malawi, from 7 April 2012 to 31 May 2014. Banda took office as President following the sudden death of President Bingu wa Mutharika. She is the founder and leader of the People's Party, created in 2011. An educator and grassroots women's rights activist, she was the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2009 and the Vice-President of Malawi from May 2009 to April 2012. She has served in various roles as a member of Parliament and as Minister of Gender and Child Welfare before she became the President of the Republic of Malawi. Prior to her political career, she founded the Joyce Banda Foundation, the National Association of Business Women (NABW), Young Women Leaders Network and the Hunger project. Banda was Malawi's fourth president its first female president and second female head of state, after Elizabeth II. She was the second woman to become the president in the African continent, after Liberia's Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. She was also the country's first female vice-president. In June 2014, Forbes named President Banda as the 40th most powerful woman in the world and the most powerful woman in Africa. In October 2014, she was included in the BBC's 100 Women.

4. Peter Mutharika (b. 1940)

With an HPI of 52.60, Peter Mutharika is the 4th most famous Malawian Politician.  His biography has been translated into 52 different languages.

Arthur Peter Mutharika (born 18 July 1940) is a Malawian politician and lawyer who was President of Malawi from May 2014 to June 2020. Mutharika has worked in the field of international justice, specialising in international economic law, international law and comparative constitutional law. He informally served as an adviser to his older brother, President Bingu wa Mutharika, on issues of foreign and domestic policy from the onset of his election campaign until the President's death on 5 April 2012. He has also held positions as Minister of Justice and later as Minister for Education, Science and Technology. Mutharika also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2011 to 2012. He was charged to help bridge relations between Malawi and the United Kingdom due to the deterioration of public diplomacy between the two nations after the Cochrane-Dyet controversy. Standing as the candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Peter Mutharika was elected as President of Malawi in the 2014 election.

5. Bakili Muluzi (b. 1941)

With an HPI of 51.94, Bakili Muluzi is the 5th most famous Malawian Politician.  His biography has been translated into 38 different languages.

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 minister and secretary general of the Malawi Congress Party for years until he was dismissed for abusing MCP party funds.

6. Abeid Karume (1905 - 1972)

With an HPI of 50.75, Abeid Karume is the 6th most famous Malawian Politician.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Abeid Amani Karume (4 August 1905 – 7 April 1972) was the first President of Zanzibar. He obtained this title as a result of a revolution which led to the deposing of Sir Jamshid bin Abdullah, the last reigning Sultan of Zanzibar, in January 1964. Three months later, the United Republic of Tanzania was founded, and Karume became the first Vice President of the United Republic with Julius Nyerere of Tanganyika as president of the new country. He was the father of Zanzibar's former president, Amani Abeid Karume.

7. Theresa Kachindamoto (b. 1950)

With an HPI of 42.62, Theresa Kachindamoto is the 7th most famous Malawian Politician.  Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Theresa Kachindamoto (born c. 1959) is a Malawian paramount chief (or Inkosi) of the Dedza District in the central region of Malawi. She has informal authority over more than 900,000 people. She is known for her forceful action in dissolving child marriages and insisting on education for both girls and boys.