Happy Kayuni is Professor of Political Science and holds a PhD (Political Science) from University of the Western Cape. He joined University of Malawi’s Department of Political and Administrative Studies in 2002 as a Staff Associate after working for some time as Research Assistant in various research projects under Center for Social Research, Center for Language Studies, Gender Policy Unit and Save the Children (US) – in collaboration with University of North Carolina. He also worked as Programme Manager for Women’s World Banking – Malawi Affiliate. He also holds a Master of Public Administration degree (MPA) from the University of Stellenbosch obtained in 2004. During his studies, he won several awards such as the South African Embassy Study Bursary, Stellenbosch’s Postgraduate Merit Bursary Award, School of Public Planning and Management’s Student of the Year Award (DUK-Student 2005) and the prestigious PricewaterhouseCooper Award for being the best MPA student.
Professor Kayuni has previously served as Deputy Head and later Head of Political & Administrative Studies Department. He has co-edited books and authored (or co-authored) forty-seven peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters as well as over a hundred research/consultancy reports and conference papers. In relation to training programmes, he has facilitated numerous team building programmes for various local governments and ministries in Malawi. Professor Kayuni is also a trained SADC-PF Elections Observer. Professor Kayuni was also part of a team that facilitated and drafted the Malawi Community Development Policy. He also assisted in the drafting of the Malawi Refugee Policy and the Malawi NGO Policy. Apart from University of Malawi where he is employed, Professor Kayuni has also taught (as part-time lecturer) in several tertiary institutions in South Africa and these are University of the Western Cape, Cape Peninsula University of Technology and Bellville Business College. Currently he is also Faculty Affiliate in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Initiative Programme at Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM), University of Oslo, Norway.
Professor Kayuni is external examiner of several postgraduate programmes offered by several institutions: University of Johannesburg (PhD in Public Management and Governance), University of Fort Hare (Doctor of Public Administration), University of the Free State (Master’s Degree in Governance and Political Transformation), and University of Kwazulu-Natal (Doctor of Administration). He also serves as editorial board member of several international journals. His area of expertise include: Public sector management and reform, Trans-border ethnicity, International development, Gender in politics, and Political governance. In relation to postgraduate supervision, Professor Kayuni has supervised over twenty-five students in the following programmes: MA (Political Science), Master of Public Administration & Management, MA (HRM/IR), MA (Development Studies), MA (Industrial Relations) and MSc in Conflict and Development.