Abstract

This study was conducted to identify and examine the roles and interests of different actors in the 2015 visa policy reform process, and further seeks to examine the institutional context that governed the policy process in Malawi, after the Government of Malawi adopted a reformed visa policy which drew criticisms from different stakeholders, and whose policy process is not clear in the year 2015. The study used a qualitative research strategy. Primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews with key informants from different government ministries and departments, as well as the private sector. These key informants were identified using snowball sampling. In addition, secondary data was also collected from documents such as government reports, press releases and newspaper articles, among others. The study used thematic analysis to draw its findings. The study found the Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security and the Ministry responsible for Finance as the main actors in the visa policy reform process, with an interest in revenue collection. The findings indicate that the private sector was not engaged in the adoption of the reform, it was however engaged during the policy reform implementation stage, after initiating its involvement. This is attributable to the influential role of informal institutions, such as norms in excluding other actors in public decision making with the aim of subduing conflicting views, as envisaged by institutional theory. The study found also that despite Malawi being party to a number of international conventions and protocols such as the Southern African Development Community Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, diplomatic reciprocity took an upper hand in the policy’s formulation. Nationals from Southern African Development Community member states which subject Malawians to visas, as also subjected to visas to enter Malawi’s territory. The study therefore affirms with the notion of informal institutions subduing formal institutions in a policy process, as envisaged by critics of institutional theory.

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School	: School of Law, Economics and Government
Issued Date	: 2021

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