Why has the Experiment with the Vice President’s office failed?

By Chatinkha Chidzanja Nkhoma

For the past 32 years, Malawi has experimented with the office of the Vice President, and the results suggest that the arrangement has failed to deliver the stability and continuity it was intended to provide.

In several administrations after Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda, Presidents, to consolidate their own authority, often chose running mates who were political outsiders rather than trusted leaders from within their own parties. Often, this has resulted in internal power struggles, divided loyalty, succession battles, and unnecessary political instability.

There is three important lessons Malawi should consider:

1. Dr. Kamuzu Banda’s decision to eliminate the position altogether reflected a governance philosophy that avoided competing centres of power within the Executive.

2. Malawi should seriously reconsider whether the office of the Vice President is necessary. If the position consistently creates political conflict while imposing significant costs on taxpayers, then constitutional reform should examine whether those resources could be better utilised elsewhere.

3. If the office is retained, Presidents should choose a Vice President from within their own political party—someone with a proven record of loyalty, leadership, and public service, rather than individuals primarily motivated by personal ambition, popularity, or the pursuit of power.

A Vice President should strengthen the government, not become a rival power base.

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