Looking back 2020-2025: “Malawi felt like it had no president” as voters turn away from Chakwera, MCP

LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-Looking back then, between 2020 and 2025, Malawi went through five years that many citizens now describe with one painful phrase.

“The country felt like it had no president.”

At the time, the disappointment was not loud, but it was growing in homes, markets, and villages across the country.

People watched prices of maize, fuel, and soap climb while wages stayed the same.

Fuel queues became part of daily life, and blackouts stretched into the night.

In those moments, trust in government institutions quietly slipped away.

In buses and at trading centres, you could already hear people whispering it.
“MCP, never again.”

Back then, the promises made in 2020 still echoed in campaign songs and speeches.

Yet on the ground, little of it felt real.

Unemployment kept rising.
Corruption cases made headlines.

The kwacha kept losing value.

Young people at the time said they felt forgotten, with no jobs and no clear future.
Farmers waited months for farm inputs that came too late or never came at all, and harvests suffered.

Civil society groups warned then that democratic space was narrowing.

They said accountability was getting weaker, not stronger.

For families, the cost of living became a daily burden.
In hospitals and schools, underfunding and strikes meant services broke down when people needed them most.

Looking back now, analysts say that phrase, “like a nation without a president,” captured how leadership felt absent during those crises.
Decisions were delayed.
Messages were unclear.
Sometimes, no decision came at all.

As 2025 approached, that mood hardened into political reality.

Opposition parties began using that frustration to rally support.

The MCP, meanwhile, was left trying to explain five years to an electorate that had lived through them.
Party officials at the time pointed to COVID-19 and global economic shocks.

But for many Malawians who lived through 2020 to 2025, those reasons no longer explained the empty markets, the unpaid bills, and the uncertainty.

Looking back then, the message from communities was already forming.
After five years of hardship, many were ready to say it plainly.

“Never again” to the Malawi Congress Party.

Burnett Munthali

Burnett Munthali is a Maravipost Political analyst (also known as political scientists) he covers Malawi political systems, how they originated, developed, and operate. he researches and analyzes the Malawi and Regional governments, political ideas, policies, political trends, and foreign relations.