Malawi (1983: Doomsday)

The Republic of Malawi is a land-locked country in southern Africa. It suffered a devastating civil war during the 90’s. However the situation in Malawi is slowly but surely improving,

Pre-Doomsday
Malwi was the former British colony of Nyasaland. It gained independence in 1964 with Hastings Banda as president for life

Post-Doomsday
After Doomsday, Hastings Banda managed to keep order for about seven years. However, Hasting’s popularity started to drop due to a cessation of trade, food shortages and because he started growing increasingly paranoid and violent. This paranoia caused Hastings to executeseveral of his own ministers. In June of 1990, a group of disgruntled citizens held a protest when Hastings Banda gave a speech. The protest turn violent and Hastings Banda was killed in the crossfire. Due to the fact Hastings had most of his top minsters executed, Hasting had no strong successor. Thus, Malawi was left with a weak government and a civil war ignited in late July. The war lasted about 4 years. In October 1994 Bazuka Mhango of the Alliance for Democracy became the first president of a new multiparty government.

The Mhango administration
In the aftermath of civil war Malawi was in shambles. Most of the nation’s infrastructure was destroyed, the economy was in ruins, and the body count was high. Thus, president Mhango had his work cut out for him. President Mhango managed to gain re-election because he managed to increase agriculture output, repair a small amount of infrastructure, improve Malawi’s floundering education system, and kept order without being overly brutal. In Mhango’s second term,radio service was restored to Malawi.

President Thindwa
Mhango was succeeded by Dr. Kenneth Thindwa. During his presidency, Malawi became a founding member of the South African Free Trade Organization. An embassy with New Britain was also opened during the Thindwa administration. Dr. Kenneth Thindwa lost the election of 2009 to his former foreign minister Joyce Ntila.

Present
Malawi is still a poor land but, things are getting better. Under president Ntila both, women’s and gay rights have improved. Also ties with Zambia, Mozambique and North Zimbabwe have strengthened. There has also been some more progress made in education reform.

Politics
Major parties include the Alliance for Democracy, the People’s Party and the Mgwirizano Coalition. Malawi is also the center of a movement to form a successor to the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland called the Bantu Coalition. This movement’s political arm is the Coalition Party. The Coalition Party has three seats in National Assembly. The Coalition Party is a major supporter of the South African Free Trade Organization. It sees the South African Free Trade Organization as the first step towards forming the Bantu Coalition.

Economy
Malawi is a poor country heavily dependent on agriculture. Tobacco, Tea, and Tilapia are its main exports. Malawi also has a small textile industry. Malawi has benefited greatly from joining the South African Free Trade Organization.