Corruption in Malawi has a long and complex history with rapid evolvement over time. During the colonial era, corruption was prevalent, with colonial officials embezzling funds and engaging in other corrupt practices. After independence in 1964, Hastings Kamuzu Banda's regime perpetuated corruption, using state resources for personal gain and suppressing any opposition.

In the early 2000s, the government established institutions such as the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions to combat corruption. However, these efforts were hampered by lack of political will, inadequate funding, and limited capacity.

Corruption has taken many forms in Malawi, including bribery, embezzlement, nepotism, abuse of power, and political corruption. Public officials have been known to demand bribes for services, while politicians have embezzled funds meant for development projects.

In Transparency International's 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index, Malawi scored 34 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"). When ranked by score, Malawi ranked 109th among the 182 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison with regional scores, the best score among sub-Saharan African countries was 68, the average was 32 and the worst was 9. For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 89 (ranked 1), the average was 42, and the worst was 8 (ranked 181, in a two-way tie).

The causes of corruption in Malawi are multifaceted. Greed, lack of transparency, poverty, and low salaries have contributed to the problem. Weak institutions, lack of rule of law, and power imbalances have also enabled corruption to thrive. The effects of corruption have been devastating. Economic development has been stifled, poverty has persisted, and public trust in government has been eroded. Essential services like healthcare and education have suffered due to diversion of funds. Various institutions and individuals have been affected by corruption, including government ministries, parastatals, the police, and politicians. The mining sector has also been plagued by corruption, with officials accepting bribes to award contracts.

Corruption during Malawi's colonial times was prevalent and took various forms as the British colonial powers exploited Malawi's resources and perpetuated corrupt practices, including embezzlement, bribery, nepotism, abuse of power, and exploitation of resources. Colonial officials misappropriated public funds and resources for personal gain, accepted bribes from locals and foreign businesses in exchange for favors and contracts, and favored their own kin and cronies in awarding contracts and positions. They used their authority to accumulate wealth and influence, and exploited Malawi's natural resources, such as land, minerals, and labor, without fair compensation or regard for local welfare. Colonial powers suppressed any opposition or dissent, often using coercion and intimidation. This corruption enriched colonial powers while impoverishing Malawians, perpetuating economic and social inequalities that persist today. The legacy of colonial corruption continues to impact Malawi's development and governance.

One notable example of corruption in Malawi's colonial era is the land grab scandal involving British colonial officials and settlers. The land grab scandal in Malawi during the British colonial era was a widespread and systematic appropriation of land from indigenous communities by British colonial officials and settlers. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, British colonial officials and settlers arrived in Malawi, then known as Nyasaland, with the British South Africa Company (BSAC) leading the colonization efforts. The BSAC was granted a charter by the British government to exploit the region's natural resources and establish colonial rule. To facilitate their colonization, the British colonial officials and settlers embarked on a large-scale land grab, forcibly taking land from local communities, including the Chewa, Ngonde, and Tumbuka tribes.

The land was then allocated to British settlers, who established farms, plantations, and estates. The grab was facilitated by various means, including forced removals, coercive treaties, and land expropriation. Local communities were forcibly removed from their ancestral lands, often under the pretext of "development" or "progress". British officials coerced local chiefs into signing treaties that ceded large tracts of land to the British. The colonial government simply took land without compensation or consent from the local communities. The grab had devastating consequences for the local communities, including displacement, loss of livelihoods, and cultural destruction.