Malawi activists suspend protests amid regulatory pressure on HRDC

The activist group Malawi First has suspended planned demonstrations following a roundtable meeting with the Malawian government. The group, led by Bon Kalindo, had issued a seven-day ultimatum demanding solutions to socio-economic crises, including fuel shortages, electricity blackouts, hunger, and foreign exchange scarcity. Under a new agreement, the government has been granted two weeks to identify and communicate specific interventions to address these challenges.

Simultaneously, the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC), a prominent civil society organization, faces potential deregistration. The NGO Regulatory Authority (NGORA) upheld a decision to deregister the group, citing failures to meet legal obligations such as submitting audited financial statements, annual returns, and governance records.

HRDC chairperson Michael Kaiyatsa stated that the coalition intends to challenge the decision in court and maintained that losing its official NGO status would not prevent it from fulfilling its civil society mandate. The HRDC has been a significant force in Malawian politics, notably leading protests following the disputed 2019 presidential election.