MALAWI’S recent election is being praised as a democratic success for voting out a non-performing president.
But this praise misses the real story. The country simply swapped one elderly leader for another, electing 85-year-old Professor Peter Mutharika. This suggests a political system that is stuck rather than thriving.
Democracy is fundamentally the will of the people. As the spokesperson for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Shadric Namalomba, stated: “If the will of the people is to be led by a seasoned father figure, then that is the ultimate expression of democracy.”
However, this narrative exposes a core problem, African democracies, while appearing vibrant with multiple parties and elections, frequently fail to generate genuine change or constructive ideas.
This failure is particularly alarming given the demographic disparity, 75 percent of the population is under the age of 45, yet they are often governed by significantly older leaders.
For Malawi’s youth, the election of an 85-year-old leader is not merely a political outcome, it is a direct threat to their future. Their engagement is stifled by a system that prioritises age over urgency, leading to a distinct generational divide.
These older political elites often ignore crucial issues like youth unemployment, digital transformation, and climate change, resulting in a profound sense of misrepresentation and disengagement among the younger population.
Since the fall of the late former president Hastings Banda, Malawian democracy has mastered only one thing, changing leaders. It has failed at everything else.
Development remains elusive because the system is corrupted by practices like vote-buying and electoral tampering, as evidenced by the recent arrest of Malawi Electoral Committee (MEC) officials.
For the elite, power is the goal, not public service. The ballot is not a tool for accountability, but a prize to be won by any means. While many African cultures rightly value age and experience, this traditional value often conflicts with the need for rapid technological and economic changes in a globalised world. This is a challenge that faces not just Malawi, but the entire continent.
The international community will likely issue statements congratulating Malawi on a peaceful and credible exercise. Yet, beneath this superficial stability, the contested definition of democracy remains unresolved.
True democracy in Africa must be reimagined. It must transform into a system that honours the wisdom of age while vigorously fostering the ambition and vision of youth.
Elections must be more than a ritual, they must be a powerful instrument for demanding accountability and driving the transformative development that a young, dynamic continent desperately needs.
Until then, the paradox of the republic’s ballot will continue to define, and ultimately diminish, the democratic experience for millions.
Kaiyo is an international relations student at Africa University, Zimbabwe.