Zimitsani Moto: Understanding the Malawi COVID-19 Response

James Tengatenga, Susan M. Tengatenga Duley and Cecil J. Tengatenga
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James Tengatenga: School of Theology, University of the South, Sewanee, TN 37383, USA
Susan M. Tengatenga Duley: Unity Trust Bank, Birmingham B1 2JB, UK
Cecil J. Tengatenga: School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06510, USA

Laws, 2021, vol. 10, issue 2, 1-14

Abstract: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has unsettled societies and economies of people and countries all over the world. Malawi is no exception. As such, the COVID-19 pandemic is more than just a health crisis. Countries have responded by instituting lockdowns and other restrictive measures among the populace. These have, in turn, elicited negative responses and legal challenges; most of which are rights-based. The main challenge has been that of the restriction of individual and religious freedoms. It is, thus, no surprise that reactions against government decrees restricting religious gatherings in the wake of the pandemic have been challenged in the courts. We will explore the Malawian traditional religious concept of healing and wholeness, give a chronological outline of government decrees and the responses to the pandemic, and conclude with an analysis using some reflections on Ferdinand Tönnies concepts of Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft and recollection of traditional religion and critique of the new evangelicalism leading to an understanding of the Malawian response to the pandemic.

Keywords: umunthu; rights and freedoms; public health; legislation; African Traditional Religions; evangelicalism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D78 E61 E62 F13 F42 F68 K0 K1 K2 K3 K4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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