Jack McBrams
(He/Him)
As seen in:
Hello Monday with Jessi Hempel,
LinkedIn,
Yahoo Life,
El País,
MSN España,
Yahoo News,
Yahoo News Malaysia,
Yahoo News UK,
Yahoo Singapore,
Newsweek
and
Covers:
Politics, Business, Humanitarian, Entertainment, Arts, Culture, Health
I vent in under 280 characters | bylines @AFP @PlatformMalawi @theContinent_ | founding member @FPA_Africa | mcbrams@gmail.com
Articles by Jack McBrams
Remembering Legson Kayira
This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts
From Malawi to America on Foot: Legson Kayira’s Extraordinary Quest for an Education
A dream bigger than the village In October 1958, Legson Kayira announced to his village that he intended to walk to America. The destination was almost unimaginable to the people around him. According to accounts of his journey, his mother sent him off with enough flour for approximately five days, apparently unaware of just how far he intended to travel. Kayira had neither the money nor the documents required for international travel. He was barefoot and dressed in his school uniform.
One Malawi, many ethnic festivals
Malawi’s growing calendar of ethnic festivals is a welcome celebration of heritage, identity and tradition. But amid the dances, regalia and royal speeches, there is an opportunity to build something bigger: a National Cultural Day that brings every community together to celebrate not only who we are, but what unites us. Malawi may be small on the map, but its cultural calendar is becoming crowded.
Does Malawi have a music industry?
For 25 years, I have been on the fringes of the Malawi music scene both as an industry insider and an arts curator of sorts. For much of that time, I have heard people speak confidently about “the Malawi music industry”. We repeat the phrase so often that we rarely ask whether it describes a functioning economic system or merely a lively music scene. A music scene is not an industry.
Malawi’s mining offers promises and challenges
By Jack McBrams / AFP, LILONGWE Add TT as Preferred Source A new generation of mining projects targeting rare earth and critical minerals could transform Malawi’s economy — but experts warn of the Africa-wide challenges in turning resource wealth into broad-based prosperity. One of the world’s poorest countries, Malawi has long depended on agriculture, aid and a handful of exports such as tobacco, tea and sugar.
Malawi's looming mining boom offers promise and challenge
A new generation of mining projects targeting rare earth and critical minerals could transform Malawi's economy -- but experts warn of the Africa-wide challenges in turning resource wealth into broad-based prosperity. One of the world's poorest countries, Malawi has long depended on agriculture, aid and a handful of exports such as tobacco, tea and sugar.
How USAID Cuts Exposed Refugee Girls in Malawi to Predators
DZALEKA, Malawi — As darkness fell over the sprawling Dzaleka refugee camp in central Malawi on the evening of Jan. 10, four girls leaving a birthday celebration faced a dilemma familiar to many children in the sprawling settlement. The walk home through the camp’s poorly lit pathways felt too dangerous. So, when a middle-aged man offered them food, bedding and a place to sleep, the girls, aged between 12 and 15 years old, accepted.
A missing President, an absent cabinet and the tragedy of being Malawian
There is something profoundly unsettling about discovering that your country can apparently function without its president. Not well. Not competently. Certainly not prosperously. But it functions. Since his dramatic return to power last September, President Peter Mutharika's most visible acts of leadership have not been national addresses, economic interventions or decisive policy announcements. They have been three taxpayer-funded "private" trips to South Africa.
SA Xenophobia forces Malawians return home to ‘nothing’
The first sign that something unusual has happened in this quiet lakeshore village is not the sound of fishers pushing their wooden boats into the waters of Lake Malawi, or children running barefoot through the dusty paths. It is the sudden arrival of strangers who are not strangers at all. In M’namba Village, in Salima District, life has begun to stir around families returning from South Africa—carrying stories of fear, survival and loss.
Migrants pick up pieces back home after fleeing South Africa
Back in his village in rural Malawi, Ahamadi Assani recalled his terror during an attack by anti-foreigner vigilantes in South Africa that led him to flee the country with just a few bags. It came as a campaign against illegal immigrants -- accused by locals of taking work and resources -- set an unofficial June 30 deadline for undocumented migrants to leave the country.
Migrants pick up pieces back home after fleeing South Africa
kAmq24< :? 9:D G:==286 :? CFC2= |2=2H:[ p92>25: pDD2?: C642==65 9:D E6CC@C 5FC:?8 2? 2EE24< 3J 2?E:\7@C6:8?6C G:8:=2?E6D :? $@FE9 p7C:42 E92E =65 9:> E@ 7=66 E96 4@F?ECJ H:E9 ;FDE 2 76H 328D]k^Am kAmxE 42>6 2D 2 42>A2:8? 282:?DE :==682= :>>:8C2?ED \\ 244FD65 3J =@42=D @7 E2<:?8 H@C< 2?5 C6D@FC46D \\ D6E 2? F?@77:4:2= yF?6 b_ 5625=:?6 7@C F?5@4F>6?E65 >:8C2?ED E@ =62G6 E96 4@F?ECJ]k^Am kAmQ(6 H6C6 9:5:?8 :?D:56 @FC 9@>6D 3642FD6 H6 762C65 7@C @FC =:G6D[Q pDD2?: E@=5 pu! :?
Why Malawi cannot escape poverty without changing how it thinks
Walk through a rural trading centre in central Malawi early in the morning and the rhythm of daily survival is already in motion. Women are setting up small piles of tomatoes on woven sacks. Young men are loading bicycles with produce headed for nearby markets. A group gathers near a broken borehole discussing when, or if, it will be repaired. The conversation is familiar. It rarely moves beyond what is missing, what has failed, or what is still needed from somewhere else.
‘We sleep on empty stomachs’: The refugees abandoned by the global aid freeze
In the drastically overcrowded Dzaleka Refugee Camp, food rations have been cut to zero. As Malawi swings from severe drought to catastrophic flooding, the humanitarian safety net is buckling under the strain, writes our contributor JACK MCBRAMS. In Dzaleka Refugee Camp, the queues have not disappeared. Hunger has not disappeared. Only the money has.
‘We still need people to hold our hands’: Inside the collapse of Malawi’s humanitarian safety net
For 27 years, the Dzaleka refugee camp in Malawi has been the closest thing Marriam Habimana has had to a permanent home. A 30-year-old Burundian refugee and single mother of three, she has built her family’s survival around one certainty: the monthly food assistance from the UN World Food Programme (WFP). Since the establishment of the camp in 1994, WFP has been providing food to maintain and improve the nutrition of refugees and asylum seekers. Originally, WFP provided in-kind food assistance.
Gli errori che alimentano la xenofobia in Sudafrica
Le immagini sono dolorosamente familiari. Una folla irrompe in uno spaza shop (un piccolo negozio abusivo) a Soweto, vicino a Johannesburg. Gli scaffali vengono ispezionati attentamente. I commercianti stranieri sono interrogati da sedicenti patrioti. Seguono minacce e ultimatum. Andate via, altrimenti… Questo non è far rispettare la legge. È teppismo politico. Ma se in Africa vogliamo avere un dibattito onesto sulla xenofobia in Sudafrica, dobbiamo essere onesti su tutto.
The country’s shame and Africa’s failure
Dangerous reality: Two Soweto spaza shops, one owned by a local and the other a foreign national. Operation Dudula supporters have previously demanded the closure of foreign-owned spaza shops. Photo Kasi Hustlers The images are painfully familiar. A mob storms into a tiny spaza shop in Soweto. Shelves are inspected like contraband checkpoints. Foreign shopkeepers are interrogated by self-appointed patriots masquerading as law enforcers. Threats are issued. Deadlines are given. Leave, or else.
Malawi’s unemployed youths seek to secure mushroom market
With a 40-tonne monthly deficit and backing from agricultural heavyweights, a new generation of climate-smart agropreneurs is trading academic frustration for financial freedom Step into the incubation room, and the world disappears into absolute darkness. This is what mushroom growers call the “dark stage”, a delicate phase where sterilised bags packed with substrate and spores are sealed off from light, air, and water. In this silent blackness, the mushrooms begin to grow.
Turning sunflowers into communal sunshine
Across the sun-drenched plains of Mchinji this April, the landscape is a patchwork of gold and green. It is harvest season in Malawi, when the air carries the dust of threshed grain and the steady rhythm of winnowing. For many farmers, this marks the end of months of hard labour. For Faith Kamanya, it is only the beginning. Kamanya shows how shiny sunflower can be In Mchinji Boma, Kamanya is reshaping what it means to add value to agriculture.
US aid cuts collapse Malawi’s LGBTQ+ health services as volunteers scramble to fill the void
At the central hospital in Mzuzu, in a crowded corridor, a nurse shouted at Chisomo Nkwanga. The 24-year-old had come to the public hospital for the first time to collect his life-saving HIV medication, the same medication he had received with dignity at the donor-funded clinic in his city until it closed its doors in January 2025. He had been waiting in line when he fell into an argument with one of the nurses.
Los servicios de salud para personas LGTBIQ+ en Malaui colapsan por los recortes de EE UU, mientras los voluntarios intentan llenar el vacío
En el hospital central de Mzuzu, ciudad situada al norte de Malaui, una enfermera le gritó a Chisomo Nkwanga en medio de un pasillo abarrotado. El joven de 24 años había acudido por primera vez a este hospital público para recoger su medicación vital contra el VIH, la misma que había recibido con dignidad en la clínica financiada por donantes en su ciudad hasta que esta cerró sus puertas en enero de 2025. Había estado esperando en la fila cuando terminó discutiendo con una de las enfermeras.
Los servicios de salud para personas LGTBIQ+ en Malaui colapsan por los recortes de EE UU, mientras los voluntarios intentan llenar el vacío
Jack McBrams En el hospital central de Mzuzu, ciudad situada al norte de Malaui , una enfermera le gritó a Chisomo Nkwanga en medio de un pasillo abarrotado. El joven de 24 años había acudido por primera vez a este hospital público para recoger su medicación vital contra el VIH , la misma que había recibido con dignidad en la clínica financiada por donantes en su ciudad hasta que esta cerró sus puertas en enero de 2025.
From illegal routes to profit
For years, Olaf Sanga and the more than 500 cross-border traders he represents have operated in a system they describe as unpredictable and exhausting. Sometimes the taxes made sense. Often, they did not. The STR will be operational at Songwe Border in Karonga District. | Nation “The biggest challenge we faced was that the tax calculations were inexplicable,” said Sanga, president of a National Cross-border Traders Association.
Mercy Ng’onamoAwili co-founder and director of business
By the time Mercy Nyasulu Ng’onamo decided to leave the hospital ward for the field, she already understood one painful truth: hunger cannot be cured with medicine alone. At 32, she is Agwenda Women Input Loan Initiative (Awili) co-founder and director of business. Awili is a woman-led agribusiness and microfinance model that has transformed the lives of thousands of rural women and young farmers. Mercy was a nurse; her days framed by white hospital walls and the weight of specialised care.
Malawi suffers as US aid cuts cripple healthcare
Photo by AMOS GUMULIRA / AFP By Jack McBrams, Agence France-Presse A catastrophic collapse of healthcare services in Malawi a year after US funding cuts is undoing a decade of progress against HIV/AIDS, providers warn, leaving some of the most vulnerable feeling like “living dead”. In the impoverished southern Africa country, the US government’s decision to slash foreign aid in January 2025 has led to significant cuts in HIV treatments, a spike in pregnancies and a return to discrimination.
Malawi suffers as US aid cuts cripple healthcare
The foreign funding squeeze on Malawi's healtcare system has triggered siginificant cuts in HIV treatments, a spike in pregnancies and a return to discrimination (Amos GUMULIRA) (Amos GUMULIRA/AFP/AFP) A catastrophic collapse of healthcare services in Malawi a year after US funding cuts is undoing a decade of progress against HIV/AIDS, providers warn, leaving some of the most vulnerable feeling like "living dead".
Funding cuts drive LGBTQ+ community into the shadows
The vibrant greens of Mzuzu — known throughout Malawi as the “green city”—have faded into a bleak, grey reality for Chisomo Nkwanga. Four years ago, Chisomo received an HIV diagnosis that shattered his world. In the years that followed, he found a rhythm of survival through specialised care. Today, however, as he struggles to access the medication that keeps him alive, his personal battle has become a potent symbol of a community suddenly abandoned by the global health complex.
Dr. Eluphy Banda-Nyirenda, Country Director, AGRA Malawi
In the quiet poise of Dr. Eluphy Banda-Nyirenda, there is an understated power—not the thunderous sort that announces itself loudly, but the elegant, disciplined resolve that has defined her journey from a curious girl to one of Malawi’s most influential figures in agricultural transformation.
Malawi’s Quiet Heroes Deserve Their Flowers
A couple of years ago, my daughter, then barely a year old, was badly scalded by hot water. We rushed her to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, where she was admitted to the burns unit. She remained there for a month. Her first Christmas was spent in a hospital’s Burns Unit. Anyone who has watched a child suffer knows the helplessness that comes with it. But that period also offered an unexpected lesson in the nature of heroism in Malawi.
Malawi Needs a Moment of Reckoning
There is an uncomfortable truth Malawi must finally face: we have become a country terrified of accountability. For decades, we have mastered the art of avoiding responsibility, sweeping scandals under the carpet, and pretending that silence is a form of stability. It is not. And this is why, for all its dysfunctions and political turmoil, South Africa remains miles ahead of us in one vital respect—its willingness to confront the truth.
Malawi’s chance to escape dollar trap
For many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malawi, the journey to source goods from China is a long and expensive detour through the American financial system. A trader in Lilongwe will convert the kwacha into dollars, wire or carry the money to China, then convert again into yuan to pay for goods.
Lessons from a Retired Malawian Arts Critic
A few days ago, my longtime friend and fellow rabble-rouser, Muthi Nhlema , phoned to tell me my name had resurfaced in a writers’ group. Apparently, people were reminiscing about my earlier career as an arts critic—a version of myself I don’t think about often, but one that defined me more than I realised. The memory made me smile, partly from nostalgia, partly from the knowledge that those years were as instructive as they were chaotic.
Decoding wealth in the Malawian context
When I travel across Malawi — from the dusty roads of Mzimba in the north to the teeming markets of Blantyre in the south — I often overhear a phrase that quietly, insistently shapes how we assess value: “khalidwe ndi chuma.” Translated roughly, it means “good character equals wealth.” But to translate it so bluntly is to undercut the depth of what it means.
Malawi’s New Fiscal Reality: Death by a Thousand Taxes
LinkedIn respects your privacy LinkedIn and 3rd parties use essential and non-essential cookies to provide, secure, analyze and improve our Services, and to show you relevant ads (including professional and job ads) on and off LinkedIn. Learn more in our Cookie Policy. Select Accept to consent or Reject to decline non-essential cookies for this use. You can update your choices at any time in your settings.
Dear #Malawi, what is our purpose as a nation?
Sometimes, when the world has quieted and the night forces honesty out of us, I find myself staring at the ceiling, wrestling with questions that feel both intimate and national. What is my purpose? Why am I here? What anchors me to this life? I’m not a religious man, but I’ve lived long enough to know this: once a person finds their purpose, everything sharpens. Purpose becomes a compass—steady, unshaken by storms, pointing to something that matters.
The Death of Thought Leadership: How Malawi’s Academia Lost Its Voice
Having spent the past week at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, I was struck by something I haven’t felt in a long time — thought. You can sense it everywhere at Wits: in the corridors, in the bookshops overflowing with titles by its own professors, and in the lively conversations about society, justice, and the future. It is a living, breathing university — one that thinks, writes, and speaks. It made me reflect on home.
Same old song, new microphone
President Peter Mutharika walked into Parliament this morning like a man returning to fix a house fire—with a teacup. His speech was sold as a bold new beginning. In reality, it was a tired remix of every failed idea Malawi has already danced to—and stumbled. To be fair, there were flickers of sincerity. The President’s acknowledgment of the economic crisis was sobering in its honesty. For once, there were no magical growth projections or rosy GDP promises. He didn’t pretend the country is thriving.
From peanut butter to purpose - Nation Online
In Mangochi District, a young woman is reshaping the country’s agrifood narrative—not from a boardroom, but from a village kitchen. At just 28, Jacqueline Joyreen Banda, founder of Jeyie Foods, is building a youth-led food enterprise that tackles malnutrition, poverty, and unemployment with the same ingredient that started it all: peanuts. Her journey began with a sick child and a handful of groundnuts. “My cousin was malnourished,” she recalls.
I Should Be Hopeful. But I’m Not
Every election, we dust off our voter’s cards, iron our best optimism, and march to the polls with hope stitched into our hearts. Elections are supposed to be moments of renewal — opportunities to reflect, refresh, and re-imagine our collective destiny. They carry that familiar air of euphoria: the drums, the slogans, the promises of a brighter tomorrow. And yes, I am an optimist.
MCP’s Defeat: A Lesson in Arrogance and Renewal
Jack McBrams Jack McBrams Journalist | Thought Leader | Strategic Communications | Social Justice Published Sep 28, 2025 The defeat of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) at the hands of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) last week was devastating. For a ruling party, losing an election is never a simple matter of numbers. Defeat strikes deeper: it dehumanises, erodes dignity, and strips away the authority that once commanded respect. But though devastating, this loss was not surprising.
Malawi's ex-president Mutharika returns to power in crushing vote win
Jack McBrams Wed, September 24, 2025 at 7:11 PM UTC 3 min read Malawi's ex-president Peter Mutharika was re-elected to head the impoverished southern African country with nearly 57 percent of votes, the election authority announced Wednesday, following polls dominated by soaring living costs.
Peter Mutharika, an ageing president returned to 'rescue' Malawi
Malawi's incoming president Peter Mutharika is a low-key 85-year-old former Washington law professor whose 2014-2020 term is remembered as better days for the economically desperate southern African country, despite its own failings. His return to power in the largely poor country of 21 million people was assured Wednesday after President Lazarus Chakwera conceded he had lost the September 16 election to his long-running rival.
In an Election Devoid of Ideas, Tribe Takes Centre Stage
LinkedIn respects your privacy LinkedIn and 3rd parties use essential and non-essential cookies to provide, secure, analyze and improve our Services, and to show you relevant ads (including professional and job ads) on and off LinkedIn. Learn more in our Cookie Policy. Select Accept to consent or Reject to decline non-essential cookies for this use. You can update your choices at any time in your settings.
Malawi votes in battle of two presidents as economic crisis bites
Malawi voted in general elections Tuesday with the incumbent president and his predecessor vying for a second chance to govern the largely poor southern African nation battered by soaring costs and fuel shortages. Thousands of people waited under trees or outside schools at outdoor polling stations across the mostly rural country for a vote focused on the faltering economy of one of the poorest countries in the world.
Malawi votes in economic gloom as two presidents battle for power
Malawians voted on Tuesday in elections overshadowed by soaring prices and crippling fuel shortages, with the economic gloom a challenge to President Lazarus Chakwera's bid for a second term. In a crowded field of 17 candidates, observers said Chakwera's closest rival was his predecessor, 85-year-old Peter Mutharika, a law professor who has spent decades living outside of the southern African nation, one of the poorest countries in the world.
Malawi votes in a rematch between two presidents as economic crisis bites
Bronwen Roberts and Jack McBrams Tue, September 16, 2025 at 2:38 AM UTC 3 min read Malawi goes to the polls Tuesday with the incumbent president and his predecessor vying for a second chance to govern the largely poor southern African nation battered by soaring costs and severe fuel shortages.
Malawi Votes In Battle Of Two Presidents As Economic Crisis Bites
Malawi voted in general elections Tuesday with the incumbent president and his predecessor vying for a second chance to govern the largely poor southern African nation battered by soaring costs and fuel shortages. Thousands of people waited under trees or outside schools at outdoor polling stations across the mostly rural country for a vote focused on the faltering economy of one of the poorest countries in the world.
Malawi must rethink its agri-business model
LinkedIn respects your privacy LinkedIn and 3rd parties use essential and non-essential cookies to provide, secure, analyze and improve our Services, and to show you relevant ads (including professional and job ads) on and off LinkedIn. Learn more in our Cookie Policy. Select Accept to consent or Reject to decline non-essential cookies for this use. You can update your choices at any time in your settings.
Bohemian Democracy: Malawi Votes to the Sound of Broken Promises
Next Tuesday’s elections are less about change and more about keeping the democratic opera alive—loud, dramatic, and utterly meaningless. “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?” Freddie Mercury’s haunting question opens Bohemian Rhapsody, and I can’t think of a better way to describe the mood in Malawi as we tiptoe toward next Tuesday’s elections.
Malawians Head To Polls In Economic Despair
Malawians vote for a new president next week in an election clouded by economic hardship as incumbent Lazarus Chakwera squares off against his predecessor in a race where few voters see a real alternative. Three of the 17 candidates for the September 16 polls have already served as president of the southern African nation and another is the current vice president.
Dear President Chakwera, Malawi is tired of your sermons
An Open Letter to President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera Mr. President, It was painful watching you deliver your national address yesterday. Painful because you did not look or sound like a man in command. You looked weary, and you sounded like someone at his wit’s end. The words were there—measured, crafted, delivered with your familiar preacher’s cadence—but the conviction was not. You did not sound convincing.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Jack
Contact Jack, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack