Africa-Press – Malawi. Education and youth empowerment formed the social backbone of Mutharika’s development agenda. He said free secondary education had already brought more than 1,800 students back into classrooms after dropping out due to school fees, marking what he described as “the most immediate social return on policy in recent memory”.
Construction of Mombera University, he said, would resume in the 2026/27 financial year, with the institution expected to absorb over 10,000 students and reduce pressure on overcrowded public universities.
In health, he announced that Mzuzu Central Hospital would begin offering dialysis services, saving patients millions of kwacha previously spent on private treatment or travel to Blantyre.
On youth empowerment, the President unveiled a K100 million soft loan fund for young people in every constituency, aimed at financing agribusiness, transport, ICT and manufacturing ventures. He said the state could no longer manage youth unemployment with speeches and slogans, but must provide capital, skills and institutional support.
Taken together, Mutharika’s SONA constructs a single ideological message: that the Malawian state is reclaiming its role as a strategic driver of development, not merely a regulator or donor coordinator. Whether the programme succeeds or fails, the address represents the most comprehensive attempt in over a decade to redefine the relationship between government, markets and citizens in Malawi.
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