Mutharika warned over Tony Blair

Malawi President Peter Mutharika has been warned to tread carefully in his renewed engagement with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Critics argue the controversial ex-UK leader has become a common thread running through successive Malawian administrations whose economic policies were ultimately rejected by voters.

From Joyce Banda to Lazarus Chakwera, Blair’s organisations have maintained a presence at the heart of government, advising presidents on governance, public sector reform and economic policy. Other critics have also questioned why Britain is expanding its influence through policy advisers just days after announcing plans to slash bilateral aid to Malawi by about 90 percent.

Blair met Mutharika at State House alongside officials from the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI), where he praised the President for taking on what he described as a “pretty tough situation.”

“Your country turned to you because they needed someone of stature in order to help get the country on its feet again. So you have inherited a pretty tough situation,” Blair told Mutharika.

He added: “There is a lot we can do with you and for you, and we remain completely open to suggestions to work with your team so that we can develop the right programme.”

While Blair presented the meeting as an offer of support, critics argue it represents the continuation of a long-running British advisory presence inside Malawi’s highest office.

Blair’s involvement in Malawi dates back to the administration of Joyce Banda. Between 2012 and 2014, his former charity, the Africa Governance Initiative (AGI), embedded four resident advisers directly within the Executive Office at Kamuu Palace in Lilongwe to “‘help’ ‘drive’ ‘government’ ‘priorities'”.

After Lazarus Chakwera assumed office in 2020, the Tony Blair Institute returned to Malawi, helping establish and embed a governance Delivery Unit within the Office of the President and Cabinet and State House – retaining a presence at both Kamuzu Palace and Capital Hill. The unit worked closely with the presidency on implementing government priorities, investment promotion and public sector reforms.

Critics argue Blair has therefore become the one constant figure advising successive Malawian governments `’towards their downfall” leading to repeated changes in political leadership. They note that both the Joyce Banda and Lazarus Chakwera administrations, which received support from Blair’s organisations, were eventually voted out of office after periods of economic hardship and growing public frustration.

Supporters of the institute, however, argue election outcomes cannot be attributed solely to Blair’s advice and are shaped by a wide range of domestic and international factors.

The timing of Blair’s latest visit has nevertheless fuelled fresh debate because it comes shortly after the United Kingdom announced it would effectively end its bilateral development assistance to Malawi, except for less than 10 percent of its current aid programme.aid.

Some analysts argue Britain appears to be replacing direct financial assistance with policy influence, maintaining a seat at the centre of decision-making while reducing its financial commitments. They contend that, as a former British prime minister, Blair’s engagements inevitably align with British strategic and commercial interests, and caution that Malawi should carefully assess whether policy advice serves the country’s long-term national priorities or those of Blair and his own country and business interests.

Blair himself remains one of Britain’s most controversial political figures.

His decision to join the United States-led invasions of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003 continues to divide opinion around the world. The Iraq War was launched over claims that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, weapons that were never found.

Across Africa and much of the Global South, Blair has faced accusations that those military interventions destabilised entire regions. Some campaigners have described him as a war criminal, although Blair has never been convicted by any international court and has consistently defended the decisions taken by his government.

South Africa’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has described Blair as one of the “blood thirsty murderers” responsible for destroying Iraq under the false pretext of weapons of mass destruction.

Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe frequently accused Blair of pursuing a neo-colonial agenda in Africa. During the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, Mugabe famously declared: “Blair, keep your England and let me keep my Zimbabwe.”

The late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi also accused Blair and other Western leaders of attempting to recolonise Africa, warning that he former British PM was keen at leaving Africa in prolonged instability.

Criticism has also extended to the leadership of the Tony Blair Institute itself.

The institute’s 12-member board is overwhelmingly white men in composition except for 3 women. Kenyan Nzioka Waita, former Chief of Staff to former President Uhuru Kenyatta and now the institute’s Managing Director for Africa, is the only Black member of the board.

Critics say the composition of the leadership reflects a broader imbalance in which programmes designed to reshape African governance continue to be conceived and directed largely from outside the continent. They argue that although the institute works in partnership with African governments, strategic direction remains concentrated within Western leadership structures.

Critics also question whether the governance and economic reforms promoted by Blair’s organisations have consistently reflected Malawi’s own development priorities or those of international partners. Critics argue that the institute has often promoted fiscal restraint, private investment-led growth and public sector reforms associated with Western development models. They contend these policies encourage the commercialisation or privatisation of public services, potentially undermining free healthcare and education.

They also point to Malawi’s previous privatisation programmes, many of which were backed by Western governments and international financial institutions, arguing that they failed to deliver the promised economic benefits, weakened service delivery in some sectors and left many citizens worse off. For some political commentators, Mutharika’s election reflected public frustration with many of those same policy approaches.

They argue the President should welcome international expertise like Blair with caustion but ensure any reforms adopted by his administration are driven by Malawi’s national interests rather than external political or economic priorities. Neither State House nor the Tony Blair Institute has publicly responded to the criticism surrounding Blair’s latest visit.

However, the Malawi News Agency (MANA) reported: “Blair pledged to leverage the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change’s global networks to help attract investors to Malawi, describing the country as having significant investment potential.”