Malawian national politics since 2005 has featured two presidents, Bingu wa
Mutharika and Joyce Banda, who quit their respective former parties when
political rivals impeded their paths to power. Both leaders thereafter
established new political parties and opted to “brand” them as prioritising
poverty reduction. These brands—which had programmatic, rhetorical, and
symbolic components—allowed Mutharika and Banda the possibility of
achieving a broader national appeal, whereas presidential elections before
2009 had been decided on the basis of regional patronage networks.
Mutharika’s brand suggested how he would empower smallholder farmers to be
able to ensure their own food security. Mutharika achieved this outcome in his
first term and the voters overwhelmingly returned him to office. A collapsing
economy in his second term, however, intensified national poverty. Banda’s
brand was a response to this poverty and suggested how she would be
committed to alleviating poverty for Malawi’s marginalised groups including
women. Her “handout” programmes endeared her to some poor Malawians
who had not benefitted from Mutharika-era growth. The 2014 election result, in
which 36 percent of the vote was enough to win the presidency, indicates how
no candidate’s political brand had earned the appeal of a majority of voters.
Analysis of Afrobarometer survey data reveals that Malawi’s citizens tend to
prefer government action to address food shortages over the redress of poverty
directly. Mutharika’s successful efforts to combat food insecurity were
relatively salient to voters in 2009. Banda’s destitution-centred efforts were less
successful in the 2014 election.