Ernest Mtawali, also known as Ernest Chirwali, (born October 10, 1966) is a retired Malawian football (soccer) midfielder. Mtawali initially played for Hardware Stars in his home country. In South Africa he played for , Bloemfontein Celtic, Sundowns FC, Orlando Pirates, Hellenic FC and Ajax Cape Town. He also had stints with Newell's Old Boys in Argentina, Toulouse FC in France, Al-Wehda in Saudi Arabia and also represented his country's national team. He was appointed as caretaker manager of the Malawi national team in June 2015.