Sylvester Namiwa
Sylvester Namiwa is a leading human rights and governance advocate in Malawi and the Executive Director of the Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI). He has played a central role in promoting civil liberties, electoral transparency, and constitutional rights. His work focuses on peaceful civic mobilisation, government accountability, and the protection of democratic institutions, often in the face of threats, judicial harassment, and surveillance.
Once considered a country where civil society could express itself freely, Malawi descended into a spiral of authoritarianism which culminated in the targeting of human rights defenders through arrests, prosecution, death threats and the violent dispersal of protests. Tensions between the authorities and civil society reached its climax in 2011. The sudden death of President Mutharika in early April 2012 led to a change of government. Since then, Malawis leaders have moved towards walking back the authoritarian tendencies of their President Mutharika.
