JL Collection1

Current Research Projects

  • 1Revising Kamuzu Banda of Malawi. This fully revised 3rd Edition will be out in October 2026. Lwanda, John. Kamuzu Banda of Malawi: A study in promise, power, and legacy (Malawi under Dr Banda 1961 - 1994) (fully Revised Third Edition) Zomba, Kachere (forthcoming 2026).
  • 2Finishing my memoirs. This book is titled Music, Malawi and Me: Memoirs of a Marginal Malawian.(Looking for publisher)
  • 3‘[Re]tailing the Indigenous Proverb: A Preliminary Philosophical Communication’ - John Lwanda PhD and Chiwoza Bandawe PhD
  • 4WhatsApp? The school, the village and the person: another colonial trinket?.
  • 5Editing the Society of Malawi Journal.(With David Bone)

Finished Projects in Press

  • Lwanda, J. L.C. Onani Awa (See them): ‘My quadruple heritage of Othering’ forthcoming in David Bone and Gift Kayira (eds) Experiences of ‘Othering’ in Malawi: A Historical Analysis (Zomba, Kachere 2026).
  • John Chipembere Lwanda PhD and Patrick Njawala (Senior Journalist, Mibawa TV) ‘Zinayenda bwanji? Wafa Bingu? Wafa Chilima? (How is it that Bingu/Chilima is dead?) The Politics of Death in One-party and Multiparty Malawi’. In Wellman Kondowe and Mwayi Woyamba Lusaka (Eds): Sudden Deaths and Politics in Africa, Palgrave, 2026.

Recent Publications

1.     Lwanda, J. L.C. ‘Rumours, Orality, Literacy and Voice Notes: The Evolution Of The Malawi Public Sphere, 1961 to 2024’ forthcoming in Gift Kayira, Kenneth Ross and Herman Mvula (eds) Malawi at Sixty (Zomba, Kachere).

2.     Lwanda John Chipembere and George Chikondi Lwanda Ife Tonse, Boma! Malawian Democracy: A history of Elected Autocracies? in Kayira, G, Ross, K and Mvula H (eds) Malawi at Sixty,  2025

3.     Lwanda, John ‘Afterword’ In Jessica Johnson and Zoe Groves (Editors) Malawi: Enduring Concerns and New Directions (Journal of the Southern African Studies  Routledge, 2025

4.     Lwanda, J. L.C. Promises, power politics and poverty: democratic transition in Malawi (1961 to 2024), Mzuzu, Mzuni, 2024.

5.     Lwanda, John. Ruminations of a Rhyming Rhino: More silly and serious stuff from… Zomba: Kachere. (2024).

6.     Lwanda John Chipembere and George Chikondi Lwanda Ife Tonse, Boma! Malawian Democracy: A history of Elected Autocracies? In Kayira, G, Ross, K and Mvula H (eds) Malawi at Sixty,  Kachere, 2025

7.     Lwanda, J. L.C. Promises, power politics and poverty: democratic transition in Malawi (1961 to 2024), Mzuzu, Mzuni, 2024.

8.     Lwanda, John. Ruminations of a Rhyming Rhino: More silly and serious stuff from… Zomba: Kachere. (2024).

9.     Lwanda, John ‘Virus’ In Sari Altschuler, Jonathan M. Metzl and Priscilla Wald (Editors) Keywords for Health Humanities New York University Press, August 2023

10.  Lwanda, J. ‘Charles Nsaku: Protest Songs, 1999-2007’, In David Bone (Editor) Protests, Petitions and Persuasion in Malawi, Mzuzu, Mzuzu University (Mzuni) Press, June 2023.

11.  Bissett, M. et al. (2022) "I see salt everywhere": a qualitative examination of the utility of arts-based participatory workshops to study noncommunicable diseases in Tanzania and Malawi. PLoS Global Public Health, 2(12),

12.  Bunn, Christopher, Mtema, Otiyela, Nkhwazi, Laurence, Reith, Gerda and Lwanda, John (2022) 'They say "easy money", telling you to predict the games': an interview study with sports bettors in Lilongwe, Malawi. In: Nikkinen, Janne, Marionneau, Virve and Egerer, Michael (eds.) The Global Gambling Industry: Structures, Tactics and Networks of Impact. Series: Glücksspielforschung. Springer Gabler: Wiesbaden, pp. 113-129.

13.  Lwanda Chipembere John, George Chikondi Chipembere Lwanda & Raphael Mbwana Awona Nyekhwe: ‘The Fate of Opposition in Multiparty Malawi (1994–2020)’, In. Ross Kenneth R Asiyati Lorraine Chiweza Wapulumuka O. Mulwafu (Eds) Beyond maya tower: New Directions for Governance in Malawi University of Cape Town Press, (2022): 197 - 219.

14.  Lwanda, John. Making Music in Malawi Lilongwe: Logos Open Culture. (2021).

15.  Lwanda, J. ‘Pastors, priests, prophets: poverty and Christian religion in Malawi 1861 to 2019’ in Ross, Kenneth R., et al., editors. Politics, Christianity and Society in Malawi: Essays in Honour of John McCracken. Mzuni Press, (2020): 293 – 319.