Mary Thom Navicha is a

Malawian Demographic features of the population of Malawi include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Region distribution Northern regio ...

politician who became the leader of the

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a centre to centre-left Taiwanese nationalist political party in Taiwan. As the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition, one of the two main political camps in Taiwan, the DPP is currently the ...

and the leader of the opposition. She is the first woman to be appointed as Leader of Opposition in the Malawi.

Life

Navicha became the member of parliament in Malawi's National Assembly for the

Thyolo Thyolo is a town located in the Southern Region of Malawi. It is the administrative capital of Thyolo District. Traditional Authority Mphuka in Thyolo District is one of the 10 Traditional Authorities in Thyolo District in Malawi. There are a n ...

Thava constituency, as a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Navicha served as the Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare in 2019. She praised the women of

Blantyre Blantyre is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with a population of 800,264 . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, Lilongwe. It is ...

when they peacefully showed their support for

Jane Ansah Justice Dr. Jane Mayemu Ansah, S.C. (born 11 October 1955) is the former chairperson of the Malawi Electoral Commission. She is also a former Malawian Supreme Court Judge and was the first female Attorney General in Malawi. She is most known for ...

. Navicha was the DPP's Director of Women and a member of the cross party

Malawi Parliamentary Women's Caucus The Malawi Parliamentary Women's Caucus is a cross party group of women who are members of Malawi's National Assembly. It was formed in 1996 when there were nine women members of parliament who wanted to work together across parties whenever the ...

. She became the Deputy Whip of the DPP but later resigned. The party's leadership became confused and in April 2023 she cautioned that she was considering leaving the party. In 2023, Naomi Kilekwa was suspended from parliament by the speaker

Catherine Gotani Hara Catherine Gotani Hara is a Malawian politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and infl ...

after unruly behaviour during President

Lazarus Chakwera Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera (born 5 April 1955) is a Malawian politician and theologian who has served as President of Malawi since June 2020. He has served as the leader of the Malawi Congress Party since 2013. He was president of the Malawi Asse ...

's state of the union address. She had refused to leave and Navicha, Thoko Tembo and Victoria Kingstone supported her and they were suspended as well. In February 2024, the Democratic Progressive Party elected Navicha to be their leader and the leader of the opposition. She was the first woman to hold this position in Malawi. On 15 February, she refused an instruction by the National Assembly's speaker, Catherine Gotani Hara. In September 2023 she thanked Pacific Ltd who had repaired 32 boreholes in her area. Pacific Ltd did this as a gift and they have renewed 8,000 boreholes. When the holes are broken then people use unregulated sources and this is a health risk. In 2025, Navicha visited Kachere Prison in

Lilongwe Lilongwe (, ,) is the capital and largest city of Malawi. It has a population of 989,318 as of the 2018 Census, up from a population of 674,448 in 2008. In 2020, that figure was 1,122,000. The city is located in the central region of Malawi, i ...

, to meet the women there. The prison is novel in Malawi because it is women-only. Also in 2025, Navicha was honoured as African Woman of 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Navicha, Mary Living people Democratic Progressive Party (Malawi) politicians Members of the National Assembly (Malawi) Leaders of political parties Leaders of the opposition