President Lazarus Chakwera has renamed key national infrastructure in honour of former Malawian leaders, a move the government says is meant to preserve their legacy in the country’s history.
According to a notice issued by Secretary to the President and Cabinet Colleen Zamba, the decision was made under constitutional powers vested in the Head of State, with effect from August 9, 2025.
In Blantyre, Chileka International Airport will now be called Bakili Muluzi International Airport, after the country’s first multiparty president who served from 1994 to 2004.
In the capital city, Lilongwe, two major sites will also carry the names of former leaders. The previously unnamed stretch of the Lilongwe Western Bypass Road, from the M12 intersection to the M1 Kamuzu Procession Road near Bunda Turnoff, will now be called Joyce Banda Highway, in honour of Malawi’s first female president who served between 2012 and 2014.
In the same city, the Area 18 Cloverleaf Interchange has been named Arthur Peter Mutharika Interchange, after the former president who led Malawi from 2014 to 2020.
“This conferment of honours is with effect from 9 August 2025 and shall be published in the Government Gazette for all purposes and all written laws in Malawi,” reads part of the official notice.
On June 10 this year, during a solemn memorial ceremony for Vice President Saulos Chilima and eight others who died in a tragic plane crash in Chikangawa Forest, Mzimba last year, President Chakwera also renamed the six-lane Kenyatta Drive in Lilongwe to “Dr. Saulos Chilima Highway” in his honour.
