This document discusses good governance in Malawi. It defines good governance and outlines its key principles, which include participation, rule of law, transparency, responsiveness, consensus orientation, equity and inclusiveness, effectiveness and efficiency, and accountability. It then analyzes factors that hinder good governance in Malawi, such as inadequate capacity, lack of citizen awareness, weak accountability, and ineffective institutions. The document aims to facilitate understanding of good governance and discussion of challenges to its achievement in Malawi.

1. GOOD GOVERNANCE IN
MALAWI
YRA cohort 2 training
Grace Mwale

2. Session objectives
•To facilitate the understanding of good governance in
Malawi
•To facilitate a discussion on the factors that hinder good
governance in Malawi.

3. Presentation outline
• Definitions
• Principles of good governance
• Factors that hinder good governance in Malawi
• Discussion questions
• Conclusion
• References

4. Definitions
•Good governance-is the process of measuring how public
institutions conduct public affairs and manage public
resources and guarantee the realization of human rights
in a manner essential free of abuse and corruption and
with due regard for rule of law.

5. • In 1990s, theWorld Bank became the first international institution
to adopt the concept of good governance into lending
arrangement for developing countries and introduced the idea to
the general public.
• Since then the term good governance has been used by national
and international organizations.
• The aim of good governance is to minimize corruption, take
account the opinions of minorities, listen to voices of the
oppressed people in the decision making processes, and respond
actively to the needs of the community now and the future.

6. Principles of good governance

7. 1. Participation
• Citizen participation is a mechanism for engaging citizens democratic
process through regular elections, participation in local government
and development planning and consultation of policy framework.
However the levels of citizen participation in Malawi are still limited
and it is worse among women and youth.
• Lack of resources, (education, time, training), beliefs, low self
esteem, traditional cultural is a significant barrier for women and
young to participate in development processes.

8. 2. Rule of law
• Rule of law is a principle of governance in which all persons,
institutions and entities, public and private, including the state
itself, are accountable to laws.
• Malawi has made good progress since the introduction of
multiparty system however the justice system faces significant
challenges in meeting its constitutional and democratic
commitments for the respect of rule of law and human rights.

9. •The key challenges remain; Law reform has been
extremely slow, statutory and customary laws
inconsistent with new human rights obligations
•High poverty and prohibitive cost of legal fees mean
that most Malawians have no access to formal justice

10. 3.Transparency
• Means that citizens understand and have access to the manner in
which decisions are made, especially if they are directly affected
by such decisions.
• The information must be provided in an understandable and
accessible format, typically translated through the media
• Transparency is a fundamental element of abolishing corruption.

11. 4. Responsiveness
•Good governance needs institutions and
processes to attempt to serve all
stakeholders within a reasonable time.

12. 4. Consensus oriented
•This fifth principle is related to decision making
process.When the decision making processes
cannot accommodate everyone’s wishes, then at a
minimum, the decision that can be accepted by
everyone and does not harm anyone.

13. 6. Equity and inclusiveness
•Good governance ensures justice for the
community. Everyone has the same
opportunity to maintain and improve welfare
regardless of their status e.g. ADC,VDC,
parastatal appointments,

14. 7. Effectiveness and efficiency
•Every decision making process and its institutions
must be able to produce decisions that meet every
community need. Community resources must also
be utilized optimally by the government
• .

15. 8. Accountability
•Good governance depends on how accountable
governmental as well as private sectors and civil
society organizations to their people and
institutions and stakeholders
•Without accountability cannot good governance
cannot be established

16. Factors that hinder good governance in Malawi
• In adequate capacity of personnel who are the ones to implement the
laws also results in policies and laws not being implemented properly
i.e. paralegals, lawyers, community based counsellors
• Lack of awareness about duties and rights on some citizens also
create barrier for good governance i.e. youth are not aware of youth
related policies
• Lack of accountability- the performance evaluation systems within the
government systems have not been effectively structured i.e cash
gate was discovered after a longtime, ghost workers

17. Factors that hinder good governance in Malawi
CONT’
•Weak civil society institutions are weakened or they are
absent the gap between people and government gets
widened i.e the CSOs are politicized instead of serving
vulnerable people
•Ineffective implementation of the rule of law i.e. access to
justice by poor people
•Lack of strong institutions of governance-the institutions
such as the legislature, Judiciary and Executive must have
clear separation of power. If they fail to perform, the
institution get weakened i.e njauju case, Martha Chizuma

18. Discussion questions
•What is the linkage between good governance and
SDG’S?
•What are positive effects of good governance in
Malawi?

19. Conclusion/recommendation
In summary, further research on a number of issues
is necessary to further reveal and address various
challenges Malawi is facing in achieving good
governance.

20. References
• AfriMAP report on “challenges in meeting constitutional and democratic commitments for the
respect of rule of law”.
• Constitution of Malawi 1994
• Malawi, Kenya and Zimbabwe,Youth participation comparative study report 2021(CYECE,YAK
&YETT)
• Report on a study on the participation of young people in political processes in Malawi and
Zambia ( by program for young politicians in Africa and Centre for young leaders inAfrica)
• The local government Act
• The NationalYouth Policy
• World bank report, “Governance and development” 1992

21. The End