Happy Kayuni

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Professor at University of Malawi

This paper traces the historical origins of the state’s exploitative agricultural market system in Malawi with a case of Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation ( admarc ), a post-colonial agriculture marketing board established in 1971. The study analyses how its initial intention of facilitating the transformation of agriculture got th...

After the re-introduction of multiparty system of governance in Malawi in 1993, ethnic associations have become popular for mobilising and re-asserting identity. Some of the most notable ethnic associations are Chewa Heritage Foundation, Mulhakho wa Alhomwe, and Mzimba Heritage Association. These associations mainly claim that their establishment i...

Agriculture has always been the main occupation and a source of livelihood for the majority of people in Malawi since time immemorial. This implies that any institutional reform implemented on land, agricultural production and marketing of agricultural enterprises directly affects the farming communities. The interest of the article covers institut...

This paper analyses the causes, processes and systemic factors that have been central to Malawi’s post-independence foreign policy and its implications for national development policy options between 1964 and 1993. The paper argues that Malawi’s post-independence foreign policy and development direction were mainly adopted in reaction to the failur...

This article discusses the purposes and drivers of handouts in party primaries in Malawi. We argue that existing explanations of handouts are incomplete because they are developed to identify dynamics in presidential or legislative elections. Rules of national elections are constitutionally protected, and their fairness is monitored by both local a...

The landlocked geo-political situation has been a dominating theme that has influenced Malawi's foreign policy since independence in 1964. Mozambique shares a long border line with Malawi surrounding it from south-east to south-west and offers the closest port city for its trade and commerce. For purposes of trade, Malawi uses four so-called corrid...

This paper discusses the political power dynamics over land between the state and traditional leadership in relation to issues surrounding the Malawi new land laws of 2016 (i.e., land reforms). The passing of new land bills in parliament represented one of the most contentious political issues in the country between the state and traditional leader...

Intermarriage is transforming Africa’s ethnic landscape. In several countries on the continent more than a fifth of all marriages now cut across ethnic lines. As a result, there is a growing population of multiethnic citizens who descend from diverse family lineages. The growth of Africa’s mixed population has the potential to affect politics in a...

The process of developing strategic plans in the public sector is regarded as one indicator of positive reform in the system. The assumption is that strategic planning ensures that (just like in the private sector) public sector organizations’ operations should cost less but deliver better service. Ultimately the argument is that public sector inst...

About two decades ago, in Malawi, the issue of the numbers of women in politics was not newsworthy. Few stakeholders showed any concern about the low number of women in politics. Despite an overwhelming increase in the interest over the last years, this book notes that not much has changed on the ground. The latest elections, in 2014, exposed a maj...

Gender quotas change the rules of candidate selection, reflecting a demand-side solution to women's underrepresentation in politics. In contrast, limited attention has been given in the literature to possible supply-side solutions, which would equip women with resources to make them more attractive to selectors—in conjunction with, or separate from...

Vibrant women's interest groups are to a larger extent a recent phenomenon in Malawi's socio-political history. Locally and internationally, the contribution of voluntary organisations (including women interests groups) in actively creating possible spaces for new democratic practices is well acknowledged. However studies have not adequately analyz...

Cultural nationalist movements have globally been on the increase especially due to globalisation factors. However the boundary between cultural and political nationalism has always been contentious and unclear. Due to this unclear boundary, some movements claim the cultural agenda when consciously or unconsciously they are pursuing a political age...

In most Malawian organizations, there has been a growing tendency of its employees disappearing after misappropriating funds and other resources. These exemployees are normally featured in popular local papers under the wanted' list with a lucrative reward attached. Apart from the long-term dented image of the organization, this development entails...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to operationalise the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) within the framework of Ubuntu in selected Malawian organizations. The intention is to analyze whether CSR can be applied cross‐culturally. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is a result of a qualitative research study conducted among...

After Malawi adopted a multiparty system of governance in 1994, the country went about setting institutional frameworks that would promote good governance and democratic principles. Among other things these were to create strong local institutions that would promote local development participation and accountability and enhance delivery of services...

Malawi's cabinet crisis was one of the most critical incidents in Malawi's political history. The crisis emanated from a disagreement between the Prime Minister and his six cabinet ministers over domestic, as well as foreign policies. The end result was that the six cabinet ministers resigned or were fired from government. While this article acknow...

Since the democratic dispensation of 1994, the education sector seems to be in perpetual transition with numerous facets of policies being introduced against a background of alleged poor management, understaffing and a poorly paid cadre of teachers. The situation was at one time likened “to a patient on a resuscitation bed in a hospital”. Despite t...

This paper is an outcome of an empirical research study conducted in November 2007 and April 2008 to analyse the extent and factors contributing to sexual harassment in the University of Malawi's Chancellor College. The study set out to answer some of the following research questions: (1) how does the Chancellor College community understand sexual...

According to the World Bank and United Nations indicators, Malawi is one of the poorest countries in Africa. During the one party autocratic rule of Dr Banda from 1964 to 1993, the government encouraged people to work on their farms; hence the informal sector was largely suppressed. When the multiparty system of governance was introduced in 1994, a...

Malawi is a southern African country that has a huge informal sector due to high levels of unemployment. One of the ways people earned income in this sector was minibus-calling. This considerably reduced the vulnerability of many who would otherwise have been excluded economically. However, the state has recently declared such acts illegal and anyo...

Although the term sustainable development is widely used in modern development literature, there are diverse and often conflicting interpretations or meanings for the term. This paper demonstrates these conflicting interpretations by reviewing different approaches to sustainable development. The paper further explains that sustainable development i...

The teaching profession is no longer a concern of academicians but the public in general who yearn for positive results. Internationally, the profession is continuously beset by several serious problems. One of the most serious problems in the teaching profession is teacher turnover. Governments are finding it difficult to retain teachers in school...

This article evaluates the first four years of decentralized local governance in Malawi with special focus on accountability of local assemblies. The article mainly relies on primary sources such as newspapers, governmental and non-governmental reports and a comparative literature survey. We argue that decentralized local governance in Malawi has e...

The paper points out that the concept of 'ubuntu', despite variations in interpretations is manifested in modern African societies. Being an African concept in orientation, some African public officers perceive it to be all encompassing and its pursuance is viewed as an empowerment to pay less attention to the 'Western' derived principles of democr...

Soon after independence in 1964 the Malawi government made an attempt to decentralise some of its activities through the creation of district development committees. However, in practice local-level institutions were not fully operational as the one-party system of government (led by the Malawi Congress Party) tended to manipulate the autonomy and...