Malawi votes out Chakwera as Mutharika secures presidential return

Malawi’s former president Peter Mutharika won this month’s presidential election, as voters rejected incumbent Lazarus Chakwera after five years of economic turmoil in one of the world’s poorest countries.

Mutharika secured more than 56% of valid votes, enough to avoid a runoff, compared to 33% for Chakwera, the electoral commission said on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, Chakwera conceded defeat and pledged a peaceful transfer of power.

“You have been elected by the people of Malawi to lead them into a brighter future,” electoral commission chairperson Annabel Mtalimanja told a briefing where she declared Mutharika the winner.

An official from Mutharika’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said the new government would work to get the country “back on track”.

Fourth showdown between Mutharika and Chakwera

Security was tight in the capital, Lilongwe, ahead of the results announcement, with armed police patrolling the streets and banks shut in case of unrest.

The September 16 vote was the fourth electoral contest between Mutharika, 85, and Chakwera, 70. Mutharika has now won three of those races, although his 2019 victory was annulled by the constitutional court due to irregularities, including the use of correction fluid on results sheets.

Political analysts said the outcome reflected widespread disillusionment with Chakwera’s handling of the economy. Turnout was high, at about 76% of registered voters.

“This election result is less about Mutharika and more of a protest vote against Chakwera, particularly over his government’s economic management,” said Boniface Dulani, a political scientist at the University of Malawi.

Economic stagnation dominates election

Malawi’s economy has stagnated since Chakwera, a former pastor, took office in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. A devastating cyclone and a prolonged regional drought, both linked to climate change, have destroyed crops and deepened hardship.

Inflation has remained above 20% for more than three years, while nearly three-quarters of Malawians live below the World Bank’s poverty line of $3 a day. Roughly half of the population does not consume the minimum daily calories needed for adequate nutrition, according to World Bank estimates.

Bertha Bangara Chikadza, president of the Economics Association of Malawi, said Mutharika’s most urgent task would be to stabilise the economy.

“Addressing foreign exchange shortages and persistently high inflation will automatically have a direct positive impact on social issues such as unemployment and poverty reduction,” she told Reuters.

Mutharika, a former law professor, is credited with reducing inflation and expanding public infrastructure during his 2014–2020 presidency. But his tenure was dogged by allegations of corruption and cronyism, which he has denied.


Source: Reuters