Abstract

This study examines the persistent culture of handouts in Malawi with a reflection on Article 41 of the 2018 Political Parties Act which explicitly prohibits handouts. It is against the background that despite its formal illegality, handouts have increasingly become a normal transaction during elections, rarely prosecuted, and it has led to the tyranny of the wealthy over the poor. Since the study is exploratory in nature, it used a qualitative approach. Informed by historical institutionalism, the study reveals that the little departure from the commercialization of politics in Malawi was ‘carved out’ since the dawn of multiparty democracy in which handouts have been part of the fabric of Malawian politics. Subsequent political behaviours and actions are, thus, actually more of the aftermath of these ‘curved out’ institutions. Since institutions have a tendency towards inertia once a particular path has been forged, it requires a significant effort to reinforce handouts prohibition law to divert political actors to another course. The study finds that the law prohibiting handouts is already quite complete and detailed. Hence, the problem does not come from a lack of laws, but rather from lax enforcement of such laws. Among others, the vacancy in the office of the Registrar of Political Parties, limited knowledge of the law among electorates, unavailability of regulations governing the prohibition of handouts, ambiguity on what constitutes handouts, poverty levels among electorates, and the capacity gap among regulatory bodies are the major hindrances to the reinforcement of the law. Since the challenges are multifaceted, the paper recommends concerted efforts to be undertaken by all meaningful stakeholders to reinforce the law to crack down on the culture of handouts. The study postulates that the culture of handouts is not a necessary microbe, but a hardy weed lodged deep in the digestive tract that is not vital to keeping the body politic in good health. It is a woeful phenomenon that bedevils both the electorate and the struggle for democratization. If the menace is left unchecked, the paper concludes, it foreshadows doom for democracy in Malawi.

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School	: School of Law, Economics and Government
Issued Date	: 2025

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