21 local economists petition Mutharika over Esoma Act

A t least 21 local economists have petitioned President Peter Mutharika to withhold assent to the Economics Society of Malawi (Esoma) Act 2026, arguing that the proposed legislation risks restricting professional independence and creating unnecessary barriers to practise the profession.

Coordinated by economist Charles Chanthunya, who is Blantyre International University founder and chancellor, the group argues that while they support professional standards and accountability, there was inadequate consultation and insufficient evidence of public harm to justify compulsory statutory regulation of the entire profession.

The Act, which was enacted in Parliament on August 6, strengthens oversight of the profession after noting that the Economics Association of Malawi (Ecama) lacks the legal mandate to register and discipline economists.

Chanthunya: There was inadequate consultation and insufficient evidence of public harm. | Nation

Part of the Act reads: “Being a mere association of professionals, it generally lacked the legal mandate to register and discipline economists in Malawi. As a result, the profession remained largely unregulated.”

Ecama, whose existing structure could be replaced by Esoma under the legislation, declined to comment on the concerns raised by the economists.

However, Ecama publicly welcomed Parliament’s passage of the Bill, describing the statutory mandate to regulate the profession as a long-awaited development.

Malawi Institute of Journalism economics lecturer Murray Siyasiya, one of the concerned economists, said that some practitioners only became aware of the proposed law when it had already passed in Parliament and was awaiting presidential assent.

“We feel that there were no wide consultations. Some of us only knew that the Bill was being passed when it was already at a stage where the President was supposed to assent to it,” he said.

Siyasiya said the group is particularly concerned about regulating a discipline characterised by competing theories and legitimate differences in professional judgement.

Former Ecama president Chinyamata Chipeta also faulted the Esoma Bill, stressing that the bulk of the functions of Esoma are academic in nature.

He said: “They [economists]do not need regulation and discipline because they flourish in an environment of freedom of conscience, opinions, ideas, thought, dissemination of ideas, inquiry and debates.

“It is scary that the Act states that all activities will be subjected to regulation and control. To my knowledge, members of economics societies in other countries are not subjected to regulation and discipline.”

Chipeta said another anomaly is the inclusion of safeguarding the public interest as a function and that public interest in this context refers to interest of natural and legal persons who are clients of members of professional bodies such as law, medicine and accountancy/auditing.

Under the enacted legislation, Esoma will become the sole authority for registering, regulating and disciplining economists and one of its statutory functions will be to encourage open debate and policy dialogue on economic issues.

The legislation defines an economist as someone with at least a bachelor’s degree in economics or applied economics from an institution recognised or accredited under the National Council for Higher Education Act.

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