Malawi

National Assembly

Political system
Presidential system
Structure of parliament
Unicameral
IPU membership
Yes

About parliament

Basic information such as the official name of parliament and details of its structure and leadership. Also includes the current breakdown of MPs by sex and age, and provisions for quotas and reserved seats.

Parliament name
National Assembly
Chamber name
National Assembly
Structure & status of parliament
Lower chamber
Parliamentary term (years)
5

IPU membership

IPU Geopolitical Group/s
African Group

Speaker

Official title
Speaker of the National Assembly
Speaker
Catherine Gotani Hara (Female)
Date of birth: 04 Apr 1974
Term
19 Jun 2019
Additional information

Elected on 19 June 2019.

Speaker terms

No information available

Secretary general

Official title
Clerk
Secretary General
Fiona Kalemba (Female)
Term
No information available

Members

Statutory number of members
193
Principal mode of designation of members
Directly elected
Directly elected members
193
Current number of members
193
Men
153
Women
40
Percentage of women
20.7%
Statutory number of members per country
193
Population (in thousands)
21,104
Inhabitants per parliamentarian
109,347

Age

Data on the age of parliamentarians is collected at the start of the legislature, following the most recent elections. This data is not updated during the legislature, except when parliament notifies the IPU of a change in the youngest or oldest member.

Average age of all members
46.8
(2019-06)
Youngest member
Gladwell Kachikungu Chimdzeka (Male)
Youngest member (years)
21
Oldest member
George Thapatula Chaponda (Male)
Oldest member (years)
76
Number of members, by age (2019-06)
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Male 0 4 37 34 23 41 5 1 0 0 145
Female 0 1 11 9 8 7 3 0 0 0 39
Totals per age interval 0 5 48 43 31 48 8 1 0 0 184
Total <= 45: 96 Total >= 46: 88
Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal Overall Male Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger
2.7% 2.2% 0.5%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger
28.8% 22% 6.5%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger
52.2% 41% 11.4%
Members for whom age data is not available
9
(2024-08)

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups
No
Electoral quota for women
Yes

Notes: Voluntary political party quotas.

Sources: https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/gender-quotas-database/country?country=134

Youth quota
No

Links to additional information

Parliamentary website
List of members
Rules of procedure/Standing Orders
Constitution

Historical data for IPU membership

Historical data for IPU membership
Year IPU membership
2020-09
List of values for 2020-09
No
2019-04
List of values for 2019-04
No
2018-06
List of values for 2018-06
No