View source for List of heads of state of Malawi

{{Short description|None}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Politics of Malawi}}

This is a list of '''the heads of state of Malawi''', from the independence of [[Malawi]] in 1964 to the present day.

From 1964 to 1966 the head of state under the [[Constitution of Malawi|Constitution]] of 1964 was the [[Queen of Malawi]], [[Elizabeth II]], who was also the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|Queen of the United Kingdom]] and the other [[Commonwealth realm]]s. The monarch was represented in Malawi by a governor-general. Malawi became a [[Republics in the Commonwealth of Nations|republic within the Commonwealth]] under the Constitution of 1966 and the monarch and governor-general were replaced by an executive [[President of Malawi|president]].

==Monarch (1964–1966)==
The succession to the throne was the same as the [[succession to the British throne]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! rowspan="2" |{{Abbr|No.|Number}}
! rowspan="2" |Portrait
! rowspan="2" |Name<br />{{small|(Birth–Death)}}
! colspan="3" |Reign
! rowspan="2" |Royal House
! rowspan="2" |[[Prime Minister of Malawi|Prime minister]]
|-
!Reign start
!Reign end
!Duration
|-
! 1
| [[File:Queen Elizabeth II official portrait for 1959 tour (retouched) (cropped) (3-to-4 aspect ratio).jpg|90px]]
| Queen [[Elizabeth II]]<br />{{small|(1926–2022)}}
| {{nowrap|6 July}} 1964
| {{nowrap|6 July}} 1966
| {{age in years|1964|7|6|1966|7|6}} years
| [[House of Windsor|Windsor]]
| [[Hastings Banda|Banda]]
|}

===Governor-general===
[[File:Flag of the Governor-General of Malawi (1964-1966).svg|thumb|Governor-General's standard]]
The governor-general was the representative of the monarch in Malawi and exercised most of the powers of the monarch. The governor-general was appointed for an indefinite term, serving at the pleasure of the monarch. Since Malawi was granted independence by the [[Malawi Independence Act 1964]], rather than being first established as a semi-autonomous [[dominion]] and later promoted to independence as defined by the [[Statute of Westminster 1931]], the governor-general was to be always appointed solely on the advice of the [[Cabinet of Malawi]] without the involvement of the British government. As Malawi became a republic before Glyn Jones, the former colonial governor, was replaced, this never happened. In the event of a vacancy the [[Judiciary of Malawi|chief justice]] would have served as the [[Administrator of the government|officer administering the government]].

;Status
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! rowspan="2" |{{Abbr|No.|Number}}
! rowspan="2" |Portrait
! rowspan="2" |Name<br />{{small|(Birth–Death)}}
! colspan="3" |Term of office
! rowspan="2" |Monarch
! rowspan="2" |[[Prime Minister of Malawi|Prime minister]]
|-
! Took office
! Left office
! Time in office
|-
! 1
| [[File:No image.png|90px]]
| [[Glyn Jones (colonial administrator)|Sir Glyn Jones]]<br />{{small|(1908–1992)}}
| {{nowrap|6 July}} 1964
| {{nowrap|6 July}} 1966
| {{age in years|1964|7|6|1966|7|6}} years
| Elizabeth II
| [[Hastings Banda|Banda]]
|}

== Republic (1966–present) ==
[[File:Flag of the President of Malawi.svg|thumb|Presidential standard]]
Under the country's 1966, 1994 and 1995 constitutions, the president is executive head of state.

The first president, [[Hastings Banda]], was elected by the [[National Assembly (Malawi)|National Assembly]] and subsequently had himself declared [[president for life]] in 1970. He was defeated in 1994, a year after his life term was abolished as part of Malawi's transition to democracy. Since then, presidents have been elected in direct popular elections for a five-year term. Presidents may be elected any number of times, but not more than twice in a row. In the event of a vacancy, the [[Vice-President of Malawi|vice-president]] becomes president for the balance of the term.

; Political parties

{{legend|{{party color|Malawi Congress Party}}|[[Malawi Congress Party]] (MCP)|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}

{{legend|{{party color|United Democratic Front (Malawi)}}|[[United Democratic Front (Malawi)|United Democratic Front]] (UDF)|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}

{{legend|{{party color|Democratic Progressive Party (Malawi)}}|[[Democratic Progressive Party (Malawi)|Democratic Progressive Party]] (DPP)|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}

{{legend|{{party color|People's Party (Malawi)}}|[[People's Party (Malawi)|People's Party]] (PP)|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}

; Symbols

{{note label|†|†|†}} Died in office
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! rowspan="2" |{{Abbr|No.|Number}}
! rowspan="2" |Portrait
! rowspan="2" |Name<br>{{small|(Birth–Death)}}
! rowspan="2" |Elected
! colspan="3" |Term of office
! rowspan="2" |Political party
|-
!Took office
!Left office
!Time in office
|-
! style="background:{{party color|Malawi Congress Party}}; color:white;" | 1
| [[File:Dr HK Banda, first president of Malawi.jpg|90px]]
| [[Hastings Banda]]<br />{{small|({{Circa|1906}}–1997)}}{{efn|Served as [[President for life]] from 6 July 1971 to February 1994.}}
| [[President for life|—]]
| {{nowrap|6 July}} 1966
| {{nowrap|24 May}} 1994
| {{ayd|1966|7|6|1994|5|24}}
| [[Malawi Congress Party|MCP]]
|-
! style="background:{{party color|United Democratic Front (Malawi)}}; color:black;" | 2
| [[File:Bakili Muluzi Dialogue (cropped).jpg|90px]]
| [[Bakili Muluzi]]<br />{{small|(born 1943)}}
| [[1994 Malawian general election|1994]]<br />[[1999 Malawian general election|1999]]
| {{nowrap|24 May}} 1994
| {{nowrap|24 May}} 2004
| {{age in years|1994|5|24|2004|5|24}} years
| [[United Democratic Front (Malawi)|UDF]]
|-
! style="background:{{party color|United Democratic Front (Malawi)}}; color:black;" | 3
| rowspan="2" |[[File:Bingu wa Mutharika 2009-09-23.jpg|90px]]
| rowspan="2" |[[Bingu wa Mutharika]]<br />{{small|(1934–2012)}}
| [[2004 Malawian general election|2004]]
| rowspan="2" |{{nowrap|24 May}} 2004
| rowspan="2" |{{nowrap|5 April}} 2012{{ref label|†|†|†}}
| rowspan="2" |{{ayd|2004|5|24|2012|4|5}}
| [[United Democratic Front (Malawi)|UDF]]<br>{{small|(until Febr. 2005)}}
|-
! style="background:{{party color|Democratic Progressive Party (Malawi)}}; color:;" |
| [[2009 Malawian general election|2009]]
| [[Democratic Progressive Party (Malawi)|DPP]]
|-
! style="background:{{party color|People's Party (Malawi)}}; color:white;" | 4
| [[File:Joyce Banda 2013-03-28.jpg|90px]]
| [[Joyce Banda]]<br />{{small|(born 1950)}}
| —
| {{nowrap|7 April}} 2012
| {{nowrap|31 May}} 2014
| {{ayd|2012|4|7|2014|5|31}}
| [[People's Party (Malawi)|PP]]
|-
! style="background:{{party color|Democratic Progressive Party (Malawi)}}; color:white;" | 5
| [[File:Arthur Peter Mutharika 2014 (cropped).jpg|90px]]
| [[Peter Mutharika]]<br />{{small|(born 1940)}}
| [[2014 Malawian general election|2014]]<br />[[2019 Malawian general election|2019]]
| {{nowrap|31 May}} 2014
| {{nowrap|28 June}} 2020
| {{ayd|2014|5|31|2020|6|28}}
| [[Democratic Progressive Party (Malawi)|DPP]]
|-
! style="background:{{party color|Malawi Congress Party}}; color:white;" | 6
| [[File:Lazarus Chakwera Profile (cropped).png|90px]]
| [[Lazarus Chakwera]]<br />{{small|(born 1955)}}
| [[2020 Malawian presidential election|2020]]
| {{nowrap|28 June}} 2020
| Incumbent
| {{ayd|2020|6|28}}
| [[Malawi Congress Party|MCP]]
|}

== Timeline since 1966 ==
{{#tag:timeline|
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:21
PlotArea  = top:10 bottom:80 right:150 left:20
AlignBars = late

Define $today = {{#time:d/m/Y}}

Colors =
  id:mcp value:rgb(1,0,0)           legend:Malawi_Congress_Party
  id:udf value:rgb(1,0.87,0)        legend:United_Democratic_Front
  id:dpp value:rgb(0.0,0.525,0.796) legend:Democratic_Progressive_Party
  id:pp  value:rgb(1,0.50,0)        legend:People's_Party

  id:gray1  value:gray(0.85)
  id:gray2  value:gray(0.95)

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period     = from:01/01/1966 till:31/12/{{#expr:{{#time:Y}}+1}}
TimeAxis   = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:gray1 unit:year increment:5 start:1970
ScaleMinor = gridcolor:gray2 unit:year increment:1 start:1966

Legend     = columns:1 left:150 top:35 columnwidth:170
 
TextData =
  pos:(20,38) textcolor:black fontsize:M
  text:"Political party:"

BarData =
 bar:H_Banda
 bar:Muluzi
 bar:B_Mutharika
 bar:J_Banda
 bar:P_Mutharika
 bar:Chakwera

PlotData =
  width:5 align:left fontsize:9 shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

 bar:H_Banda
  from: 06/07/1966 till: 24/05/1994 color:mcp text:"[[Hastings Banda]]"
 bar:Muluzi
  from: 24/05/1994 till: 24/05/2004 color:udf text:"[[Bakili Muluzi]]"
 bar:B_Mutharika
  from: 24/05/2004 till: 01/02/2005 color:udf
  from: 01/02/2005 till: 05/04/2012 color:dpp text:"[[Bingu wa Mutharika]]"
 bar:J_Banda
  from: 07/04/2012 till: 31/05/2014 color:pp  text:"[[Joyce Banda]]"
 bar:P_Mutharika
  from: 31/05/2014 till: 28/06/2020 color:dpp text:"[[Peter Mutharika]]"
 bar:Chakwera
  from: 28/06/2020 till: $today     color:mcp text:"[[Lazarus Chakwera]]"

}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Malawi.htm World Statesmen – Malawi]
* [http://rulers.org/rulm1.html#malawi Rulers.org – Malawi]

{{Heads of State of Malawi}}
{{Malawi topics}}
{{Representatives of the monarch in Commonwealth realms and Dominions}}

[[Category:Government of Malawi]]
[[Category:Lists of political office-holders in Malawi|H]]
[[Category:Presidents of Malawi|*]]
[[Category:Lists of heads of state|Malawi]]