About
Built by one person,
for the continent.
ChezaX Malawi is designed, engineered, and maintained by Rasta Kadema — a Malawian developer with a focus on building infrastructure that works for African institutions, not just adapting tools made elsewhere.
Rasta Kadema
Developer & Founder · Malawi
Rasta Kadema is a full-stack developer based in Malawi building production-grade software across fintech, AI, cybersecurity, and institutional infrastructure. His work ranges from real-time communication platforms and payment systems to post-quantum cryptography and edge AI runtimes designed for low-resource environments.
He operates across the full stack — from schema design and backend architecture to frontend interfaces and embedded systems — and ships complete, working products without handoffs. Every system he builds is engineered for the realities of operating in Africa: intermittent connectivity, limited infrastructure, and users who deserve better tools.
His philosophy is straightforward: African institutions and communities deserve software built with the same rigor and ambition as anything built anywhere else in the world.
Approach
What drives the work
Full ownership
From schema design to deployment, Rasta owns the entire stack. No outsourcing, no handoffs — every line is intentional.
Built for production
Everything is engineered for real load — Redis caching, connection pooling, structured error handling, and uptime monitoring.
African-first thinking
Designed for institutions operating in Malawi and across Africa, with a deep understanding of the environment and its constraints.
Projects
Work that stands out
Frontier Infrastructure
Quantum-Resistant Encryption Library
CompletedA post-quantum cryptography library implementing NIST's newly standardized algorithms — CRYSTALS-Kyber and CRYSTALS-Dilithium — written in Rust. Built to replace current encryption standards before quantum computers render them obsolete. Designed for financial systems, government infrastructure, and institutional backends operating in low-resource environments.
Edge AI Runtime
CompletedA lightweight AI inference engine that runs machine learning models directly on low-powered devices — no internet, no cloud, no GPU required. Built with Africa's low-connectivity reality in mind, it enables computer vision and NLP workloads on microcontrollers and embedded hardware. A lean, open-source alternative to TensorFlow Lite engineered for deployment anywhere.
Platform
ChezaX Malawi
LiveA full-stack institutional communication platform built from scratch. Features real-time chat via Socket.IO, module-based rooms, JWT + SSO authentication with YazaIT, email broadcasts, and a support ticket system with CX- tracking IDs. Deployed on Vercel with a PostgreSQL + Redis backend — engineered to handle thousands of concurrent users.
YazaIT Chatroom
LiveThe full chatroom stack powering YazaIT Malawi — frontend and backend built separately and connected. Real-time bi-directional messaging via Socket.IO with module-enrolled users, role-based access, and direct SSO integration for seamless institutional login.
Fintech & Payments
BodyForgePro
CompletedA modern React gym management platform with full user authentication, class scheduling, trainer management, and secure payment processing via Stripe and mobile money. Built for gyms that need a professional management system without enterprise pricing.
UniPod MUBAS App + Server
CompletedA QR scanner and payment application built for UniPod MUBAS. Covers the full stack — a mobile-first frontend for scanning and initiating payments, and a dedicated backend server handling transaction processing and verification.
AI & Machine Learning
CropScan — Plant Disease Detection
CompletedTwo iterations of a Python-based AI model for diagnosing and detecting plant disease. The second version introduced live camera support, enabling real-time detection in the field. Built to give smallholder farmers in Malawi access to diagnostic tools previously only available through expensive laboratory testing.
AI-Enhanced Security System
CompletedAn AI-powered home security system that uses machine learning to detect, classify, and respond to security threats in real time. Designed to bring intelligent surveillance capabilities to environments where traditional security infrastructure is unavailable or unaffordable.
Tools & Utilities
Malawi Weather App
CompletedA Java-based weather application covering every district in Malawi. Built to give local users accurate, district-level weather data in a clean, accessible interface — filling a gap that generic weather apps consistently miss.
Voter — Society Voting System
CompletedA clean, auditable digital voting system template designed for societies and community organizations. Built to replace paper-based processes with a transparent, tamper-resistant alternative that any organization can deploy.
Want to work together?
Whether you have a question, a project idea, or need support — reach out.