Abstract:
Lilongwe is the capital of Malawi and its largest city, with a population of around 1
million. Three-quarters of all residents live in informal settlements, characterised by
poor-quality housing and living conditions. This paper draws together a set of studies
completed by a team of researchers in Lilongwe as part of the African Cities Research
Consortium (ACRC). The aim of the studies was to understand the political-economic
factors that have contributed to Lilongwe’s development problem over time. The
argument is that, with the introduction of multiparty democracy in 1994, a highly
competitive electoral system emerged, with the winners rewarding supporters through
patronage and clientelism. While this pattern of politics is found in other democracies,
the key difference in Malawi is the effect of its small economy, widespread poverty and
low public finances on the relative magnitude of clientelism. Reform coalitions are
emerging to support participatory informal settlement upgrading, but they require
capacity building. It is concluded that the capability of these coalitions to reach scale
hinges largely on whether the small amount of funding pledged by Lilongwe City
Council can attract additional resources (probably from external aid agencies), how the
invited spaces of participation will be facilitated in neighbourhoods where local
government structures have been politicised, and how far communities can participate
in local political spaces influenced by democratic reforms, clientelism and limited
resources.
