Who runs local government in Malawi?

Malawi has a single tier of 35 local councils (28 district councils and 7 city, municipal and town councils). Councillors are elected in wards, while chiefs and MPs sit on the councils without a vote. Chiefs remain very important in villages, especially over customary land and local disputes.

Republic of Malawi · Unitary presidential republic · Southern Africa

The levels of government below the nation

Level	How it is chosen	What it does
Regions (3: Northern, Central, Southern)	No elected government	Used for national administration and statistics only.
Local councils (35: 28 district, 4 city, 2 municipal, 1 town)	One councillor elected per ward for five years; traditional authorities, sub-traditional authorities and MPs sit as non-voting members; five more non-voting members are appointed for special interests; council elects a chair (called mayor in cities and municipalities)	Local planning, primary schools and health services, markets, roads and local development.
District executive	District commissioner or chief executive officer appointed through the public service	Runs the council administration.

Three questions about local power in Malawi

Are local leaders elected?

Ward councillors are elected; chiefs and MPs on councils are not elected to the council and cannot vote.

Which laws set up local government?

Councils, the chiefs' seats on councils and traditional courts are in the Constitution and the Local Government Act. Village customs, such as how a village head is chosen within a family, are informal.

Who are local leaders accountable to?

Councillors face voters. Chiefs answer upwards through the chiefly hierarchy and to central government, which recognises them; courts can review decisions.

Traditional and customary authority

The Constitution says Parliament must ensure councils include a prescribed number of chiefs, and allows traditional courts led by chiefs or lay people for customary civil cases and minor offences. Traditional leadership has a ladder: Paramount Chiefs, Senior Chiefs, Traditional Authorities (TAs), Sub-TAs, Group Village Heads and Village Heads. TA posts are hereditary within the chieftaincy clan, which nominates the leader; the state then recognises them. Chiefs play a central role in allocating and managing customary land and in settling family and land disputes.

Community and neighbourhood power

Under the district council sit Area Development Committees (ADCs) and Village Development Committees (VDCs), which bring together chiefs, local people and officials to plan projects. Their boundaries follow chiefs' areas rather than council wards, which can blur lines between elected and traditional leaders.

Points to know

The first multi-party council elections were in 2000; councils were then suspended from 2004 until May 2014, when councillors were elected alongside the president and MPs (860 councillors were elected that year).
Chiefs sit on councils but cannot vote, which limits their formal power while keeping them involved.
Development committees are organised around chiefs' areas, not elected wards.

Local terms

Traditional Authority (TA): A chief in charge of an area of many villages; sits on the district council without a vote.
Group Village Head: A leader over five or more villages, chosen by the village heads.
Area Development Committee (ADC): A local planning committee linking communities, chiefs and the council.

Sources

Constitution of the Republic of Malawi 1994 (rev. 2017), Constitute Project, checked 14 October 2026
Country profile: Malawi (SNG-WOFI, 2022 edition), OECD–UCLG World Observatory on Subnational Government Finance and Investment (SNG-WOFI), checked 14 October 2026
The local government system in Malawi: country profile 2017–18, Commonwealth Local Government Forum, checked 14 October 2026
Malawi Electoral Commission (official site), Malawi Electoral Commission, checked 14 October 2026