2025-05-082025-05-082025-02-01Msukwa, Jonas WamapaloSchool of Law, Economics and Governmenthttps://dspace.unima.ac.mw/handle/123456789/906Submitted to the School of Law, Economics and Government in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the award of Master of Arts in Political ScienceThis study examined the role of presidential speeches on public policy formulation in Malawi from 2009 to 2012. The study was compelled by Bingu wa Mutharika‟s sudden change in the use of speeches from setting policy agendas, and communicating priorities to the public in his first term (2004 to 2009) to formulating public policies in his second term of office (2009 to 2012). Using a qualitative approach, the study employed content analysis to identify key themes to better explain how and why public policies were formulated through speeches by Bingu wa Mutharika during his second term in office in a democratic era. This study employed the 'elite' and 'big man' theories to describe how the executive, particularly Bingu wa Mutharika, bypassed the system of involving the legislature in the formulation of public policies that reflect the needs of all Malawians. The study concludes that the new structure, in which Bingu wa Mutharika used speeches to formulate public policies, was not provided for in the 1994 Malawi constitution and did not reflect the true needs of the general public. The findings of the study suggest that, factors contributing to presidential speech based policymaking in Malawi include: lack of strong oversight bodies on the issues of policy making and lack of knowledge of stakeholders about their roles in policy making processes. The results also suggest that political contexts in which specific presidential speeches are made include: State of National Address (SONA), Developmental rallies, Emergency situations, and Political rallies. Finally, the study establishes that the impact of presidential speeches on policy formulation in Malawi has both positive and negative aspects. Positively, these policies are found to be effective while negatively, the study establishes that these policies only reflects on the interests of the few and they are characterized by policy implementation gap.enPresidential speechesPublic policy formulationPublic policiesDemocratic eraBingu wa MutharikaState of National AddressDevelopmental ralliesEmergency situationsPolitical ralliestext::thesis::master thesis