Malawi at 60 Governance Webinar Series
‘A Political and Economic Analysis of Malawi after 60 years of Independence’
Location Zoom
On 6 July 2024, Malawi clocked sixty years as an independent nation. This stimulating webinar series preceded the publication of an authoritative, interdisciplinary book which recognises this milestone and offers a wide-ranging scholarly analysis of these sixty years.
Malawi at Sixty: A Political and Economic Analysis is edited by Gift Wasambo Kayira, Kenneth R. Ross and Mzee Hermann Yokoniah-Mvula. The book is available to purchase through this link here.
The goal of the book and of the webinar series is to offer an objective account of Malawi’s successes and failures, strengths and weaknesses, achievements and challenges in such areas as national identity, constitutional developments, governance and state affairs, political life, economic achievements and challenges, public finance, the judicial system, civil society, ethnic and regional identities, cultural change, natural resources, development ethics, religion and public life, language issues, and literature and the arts.
Between October 2021 and May 2022, the SMP and MaSP co-hosted eight high-profile, digital webinars entitled ‘New Directions for Governance in Malawi’. The Malawi at 60 series is its natural successor, providing robust reflection across an array of aspects of life in Malawi over the past 60 years.
Recordings of past meetings as well as any further resources can be found in their respective sections here-below.
Webinar 1 - Sixty Years of Continuity and Change in Malawi’s Political Culture: A Historical Institutional Analysis of Malawi’s Political Landscape, 1964-2024 (4 June 2025)
Maureen Linda Kapanga is a Lecturer in the Department of Politics and Government at the University of Malawi. She holds a Master of Arts and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the same institution but currently pursuing a PhD at North-West University, South Africa. Her teaching and research focus on political science, public administration, and governance, with a strong publication and conference record on land reform, traditional leadership, and service delivery in Malawi. Maureen has also served as a research and training consultant for several international and local organizations. She is currently an Executive Council Member of the Political Science Association (2024–2026).
Prof Happy Mickson Kayuni is Professor of Political Science and Executive Dean of the School of Law, Economics, and Government at the University of Malawi. He holds a PhD from the University of the Western Cape and an MPA from Stellenbosch University. His expertise includes political governance, public administration, and development policy. A prolific scholar, he has authored over 70 peer-reviewed publications and led key national policy drafting initiatives. He is a Visiting Professor at Addis Ababa University and Extraordinary Professor at North-West University. Professor Kayuni also serves on editorial boards, advisory panels, and examines postgraduate programmes across Africa.
Webinar 2 - “Building the Malawi Nation: A Historical Stocktaking, late 1950s to the Present” (18 June '25)
Dr Gift Wasambo Kayira is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Malawi. He researches the histories of ethnicities, development, and poverty in 20th and 21st century Malawi. He has published in The Journal of Southern African Studies, Journal of Eastern African Studies, Journal of Public Administration and Development Alternatives, and the African Studies Quarterly, among others. He also has some book chapters to his credit. Kayira is the author of The State and the Legacies of British Colonial Development in Malawi: Confronting Poverty, 1939-1983(Lexington Books, 2023).
Dr Paul Chiudza Banda is an Assistant Professor of History at Tarleton State University, Stephenville, Texas. He teaches courses on World Civilizations, British Imperial History, Modern Africa, and the global Cold War. He has published numerous chapters in scholarly anthologies; and articles in The Journal of the Middle East and Africa, The Journal of Eastern African Studies, The Journal of Southern African Studies, and The Journal of Public Administration and Development Alternatives. His latest book is The State, Counterinsurgency, and Political Policing in Colonial and Postcolonial Malawi, 1891-1994 (Lexington Books, 2020).
Webinar 3 - “Church and State in Malawi, 1964-2024 ” (02 July '25)
- Video (check description for timestamps)
- Chat Log
- Presentation by Rev. Prof Kenneth R. Ross available here.
Rev. Prof Kenneth R. Ross is Professor of Theology and Dean of Postgraduate Studies at Zomba Theological University, having earlier served as Professor of Theology at Chancellor College, University of Malawi, and as Chair of the Scotland Malawi Partnership. His books on governance in Malawi include Democratization in Malawi: A Stocktaking, co-edited with Kings M. Phiri (CLAIM-Kachere, 1998); and Beyond Impunity: New Directions for Governance in Malawi, co-edited with Asiyati Lorraine Chiweza and Wapulumuka O. Mulwafu (University of Cape Town Press and Mzuni Press, 2022).
Prof Scott Spurlock is a Professor of Scottish and Early Modern Christianities at the University of Glasgow with a particular focus on Scottish and Irish religious cultures. He is an elected member of the Church History Society of Southern Africa.
Webinar 4: "The Judiciary’s Role in the Construction of Childhood Images"(02 Oct '25)
Dr. Garton Kamchedzera, Associate Professor of Law, University of Malawi
PhD (Cantab); LLM (Law and Development) (Warw); LLB (Hons) (MlwI).
He has taught Core Legal Competences (Introduction to Law); Property Law, Child Rights, Customary Law, Family Law, the Law of Trusts, Civil Society and Activism, Environmental Ethics, and Research Methods.
Areas of Active International and National Level Research: Child rights, human rights-based approach to development programming, Progressive dignified life, legal education, higher education, customary law, Justice systems, trust notions and devices, intra and inter-generational equity, law reform, gender and development, social policy development, application, and evaluation; and civil society and activism.
Dr. Judith Turbyne, Chief Executive of Children in Scotland. In August 2021, Jude became the CEO of Children in Scotland whose vision is that all children have an equal chance to flourish.Jude has spent most of her professional life working in and with the charity sector. For much of that time she worked in international development, with charities challenging global poverty and inequality. She worked in Latin America and the Caribbean for many years, in local frontline organisations and with multinational funders, before moving to Dublin to work as the CEO of Progressio Ireland.Jude returned home to Scotland in 2013 as Head of Engagement with the Scottish Charity Regulator where she has had the pleasure of working with many charities across Scotland. Jude is the Chair of the Corra Foundation and a Trustee of the Scotland Malawi Partnership (SMP). She has a PhD from the University of Bath which looked at empowerment in development.
Webinar 5: "Rumours, Orality and Voice Notes: the Evolution of the Malawi Public Sphere, 1961 to 2023" (30 Oct '25)
Dr John Lwanda MB ChB (Glasgow) PhD (Edinburgh) is a physician, social historian and poet. His books include Kamuzu Banda of Malawi (Kachere, 2026), Making Music in Malawi (Logos, 2022), Promises, Power Politics and Poverty (Mzuni, 2024). Peer reviewed papers include ‘Kwacha: the violence of money in Malawi politics (JSAS,2006) and ‘Poets, culture and orature: A reappraisal of the Malawi political public sphere, 1953-2006’ (Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 2008), ‘music advocacy, the media and the Malawi political public sphere, 1958 -2007’ (Journal of African media Studies, 2009. He has published many peer-reviewed book chapters, poetry and currently edits (with David Bone) The Society of Malawi Journal.