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Malawi

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Malawi's First Free Elections

Bakili Muluzi of the United Democratic Front (UDF) won the country's first free election in May 1994, ending Banda's 30-year rule. In 1999, Muluzi was reelected. While Malawi was no longer the repressive society it was under Banda, Muluzi's government was tainted by corruption scandals. Senior officials are believed to have sold off 160,000 tons of reserve maize in 2000, despite the signs of a coming famine. In 2002 and 2003, the country faced severe food shortages, with more than 3 million people suffering.

In May 2004, Bingu wa Mutharika, an economist and a crony of Muluzi, was elected president in elections that were widely considered irregular.

In 2005, Malawi faced its worst food shortage in over a decade, with more than 4 million people, 34% of the population, without adequate food supplies.

President Mutharika won reelection in a landslide in May 2009 elections, taking 66% of the vote. John Tembo came in a distant second with 30.7%. Mutharika died unexpectedly of a heart attack in April 2012. Vice president Joyce Banda assumed the role of president. Once an ally of Mutharika, the two parted ways in a row over succession—Mutharika had reportedly been grooming his brother Peter to become the next president. She was ousted from the governing Democratic Progressive Party and formed her own, the People's Party.

See also Encyclopedia: Malawi .
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes: Malawi
National Statistical Office www.nso.malawi.net/ .