Malawi’s former President Peter Mutharika has taken a comfortable lead in the country’s presidential race, with two-thirds of districts having reported provisional results.
The 85-year old has received around 66% of the valid votes counted so far, with his closest rival, the incumbent Lazarus Chakwera, 70, trailing on around 24%.
Results declared so far indicate that Mutharika has won in areas known to be Chakwera strongholds, including the capital, Lilongwe, and Nkhotakota.
But Chakwera’s camp has not given up, saying that once results are declared from other areas, his vote will increase, forcing a run-off.
A candidate needs more than 50% of the vote to be declared the winner, with Malawians eagerly awaiting the final result from last Tuesday’s election.
The Malawi Electoral Commission has until the end of Wednesday to announce it.
At least two of the 12 districts still to declare results have a large number of registered voters, and Chakwera’s camp believes he will do well there. These includes rural areas around Lilongwe and Dedza.
Two other districts, where Mutharika is expected to do well, have had their results withheld by the electoral commission as it checks whether they are accurate.
The commission said it was committed to transparency, accuracy and credibility.
It added that it was carefully checking every tally sheet, after the constitutional court annulled Mutharika’s victory in 2019 because of irregularities.
Chakwera won the re-run by a wide margin, but during his presidency Malawi’s economic crisis has deepened, with high inflation, food and fuel shortages and constant power cuts.
On Friday, Chakwera’s party said it had discovered “irregularities” and “serious anomalies”, and had asked the electoral commission to conduct a “physical audit” of results. The party did not specify the irregularities.
Police said eight data entry clerks had been arrested on accusations of trying to manipulate results.
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Police in Malawi have arrested eight people for alleged electoral fraud as the country waits for the final results of Tuesday’s general election.
Inspector General Merlyne Yolamu said the suspects, who were working as data entry clerks, had been trying to manipulate the figures.
Malawi’s 2019 election was marred by controversy when the highest court annulled then President Peter Mutharika’s victory, citing widespread irregularities.
As a result, Malawi’s electoral commission is on high alert for any potential issues. Official tallies, so far, suggest Mutharika is leading the race for the presidency with incumbent Lazarus Chakwera in second place.
More results from Malawi’s 36 districts are expected to be released on Saturday – a candidate needs to win more than 50% of the vote, or a run-off is held.
In the meantime, Chakwera’s Malawi Congress Party said it had lodged a complaint with the electoral commission, claiming to have discovered irregularities in the count.
Officials did not specify what those irregularities were.
The commission is expected to announce the outcome of the election only after all votes have been tallied and verified in order to avoid the possibility of the final result being challenged.
According to law, the electoral commission has until the end of Wednesday to announce the final tallies.
In 2019, when Mutharika’s victory was annulled, a court said there had been widespread tampering, including the use of Tipp-Ex correction fluid on results sheets.
Lazarus Chakwera (L) and Peter Mutharika (R) are long-standing political rivals [AFP via Getty Images]
Chakwera, 70, won the re-run by a wide margin, propelling him to the presidency.
Mutharika, 85, is hoping to regain office in what would be a dramatic political comeback.
Malawians also voted in parliamentary and local elections following a campaign dominated by the worsening economic crisis that has seen a severe shortage of fuel and foreign currency.
The official inflation rate is close to 30%, with a frozen chicken in a supermarket in the capital, Lilongwe, costing about $20 (£15), in a nation where most people live on $2 a day or less.
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Malawians are voting in presidential and parliamentary elections, following a turbulent five years that has seen the economic crisis worsening in the southern African nation.
President Lazarus Chakwera is vying for a second term, his main rival being Peter Mutharika, an octogenarian who has previously been in office.
In the cities, campaigning has been overshadowed by fuel shortages, which have led to long, frustrating queues at petrol stations. The rising cost of living has also been a major concern of voters.
A presidential run-off will be held if no candidate gets more than 50% of the votes cast in Tuesday’s election.
What are Malawians voting for?
The 7.2 million registered voters will be taking part in three elections once polling stations open at 04:00 GMT:
Presidential – there are 17 candidates to choose from
Parliamentary – 229 constituency MPs will be elected
Local – 509 councillor positions are up for grabs.
Who could be the next president?
Lazarus Chakwera (L) and Peter Mutharika (R) have faced each other at the ballot before [AFP via Getty Images]
Among the 17 hopefuls there are two clear front-runners.
Chakwera and Mutharika will square off against each other at the polls for the fourth time – though the third time ended up not counting.
Mutharika first defeated Chakwera in 2014, but when he was declared winner over Chakwera in the next election in 2019 the result was annulled. Chakwera won the re-run the following year.
Lazarus Chakwera – Malawi Congress Party (MCP)
Chakwera, a former theology lecturer and preacher, had no political experience when he emerged as leader of the MCP in 2013.
Chakwera’s time in office has been marred by economic turmoil and allegations of corruption. The 70-year-old did, however, reintroduce train services in Malawi for the first time in over three decades. He has also overseen major road construction across the country.
Peter Mutharika – Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
Mutharika, an 85-year-old former lawyer and law lecturer, led Malawi from 2014 to 2020.
He is the brother of the late President Bingu wa Mutharika, who died in office in 2012.
Like Chakwera, Mutharika is also burdened by corruption allegations and links to economic crises. However, his supporters would argue that the current high inflation rate (around 27%) is proof that Mutharika managed the economy better than his successor.
Mutharika’s age may count against him this election – speculation about his health is rife, especially as he has rarely been seen out in public during the campaign period.
Other contenders garnering attention are former president Joyce Banda (People’s Party), current Vice-President Michael Usi (Odya Zake Alibe Mlandu) and former reserve bank governor Dalitso Kabambe (UTM).
What are the key issues for voters?
Polls are set to close at 16:00 local time (14:00 GMT) [BBC]
The country was devastated by Cyclone Freddy that killed hundreds of people in 2023, then a drought swept across southern Africa the following year. Food prices skyrocketed due to a short supply of crops, pushing many Malawians into extreme poverty.
Economists also put Malawi’s current inflation problems partly down to the shortage of foreign currencies – known as “forex” – in the banks.
In addition, Malawi has been forced to devalue its currency and was recently crippled by fuel shortages and nationwide power outages.
Corruption
When Chakwera came to power, he vowed to “to clear the rubble of corruption” that has long plagued Malawian politics. His administration says it has excelled in this area, but critics – including the influential Catholic Church – say this is not the case.
Scepticism was sparked last year when the director of public prosecutions dropped corruption charges against high-profile figures.
Additionally, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has been without a director since former boss Martha Chizuma left more than a year ago.
To some, the failure to appoint a new head actively hinders the fight against corruption.
Banda’s reputation was dented by a scandal dubbed “cashgate” which happened under her watch. She was cleared by the ACB of any wrongdoing.
The former vice-president’s death
In June last year, Vice-President Saulos Chilima died in a plane crash. Popular with the youth, Chilima led the UTM party and could have been a key contender in the upcoming elections, especially as he had fallen out with the president.
Although two investigations – one carried out by Germany’s aviation accidents agency and another by a Malawi government-appointed commission – did not find evidence of foul play, some Malawians remain suspicious of the authorities.
Opposition parties have been fuelling this scepticism during their campaigns, referring to Chakwera’s party as the “Chikangawa Party” (Chikangawa Forest being the site of the plane crash).
Hundreds in Malawi lost their lives to Cyclone Freddy [AFP via Getty Images]
What has happened in previous elections?
Malawi was governed by the MCP from its independence in 1964 until the country’s first multi-party poll in 1994.
Since the shift from a one-party state, the United Democratic Front, the DPP, the People’s Party and the MCP have all enjoyed stints in power.
Chakwera’s victory with the MCP in 2020 was one of the most significant moments in the country’s political history.
A general election had taken place the year before and Mutharika was declared the winner.
Judges ordered a re-run for 2020, and Chakwera won with 59% of the vote after having teamed up with Chilima.
Although Mutharika branded the re-run “unacceptable”, the Constitutional Court gained international acclaim for safeguarding democracy and refusing to be influenced by presidential power.
How will Tuesday’s presidential vote work?
Following the controversy of the 2019 election, Malawi implemented a new system, where a candidate must gain more than 50% of the total votes to win the presidency in the first round.
There is a strong possibility that this year’s candidates will not reach the threshold, meaning a run-off election will have to be held.
The MCP and DPP will likely try to bring smaller parties on board in order to secure a majority in the second round.
The electoral commission has up until the end of 24 September to announce the presidential result in Tuesday’s poll and the end of 30 September for the parliamentary election.
Counting is due to begin at polling stations as soon as voting ends at 14:00 GMT.
Will the elections be free and fair?
The court’s actions following the 2019 vote have given some Malawians faith in the electoral process.
However, over the past months, a number or civil society organisations and opposition parties have accused the electoral commission of favouring the MCP, alleging that its top management has links to the governing party. The commission has firmly denied being biased.
A protest in June calling for the resignation of the commission’s top officials was attacked by masked, machete-wielding men, leading to concerns about freedom of expression in the run-up to the election.
The assault was not an isolated incident – there have been numerous reports of politically motivated violence ahead of the general election.
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The queue to get fuel rather than the queue to vote is what is on the mind of many Malawians as Tuesday’s general election approaches.
Prolonged petrol shortages, along with regular power cuts, the rising cost of living, hunger, poverty, inequality and youth unemployment, add to the tangible frustration here.
The presidential, parliamentary and local council candidates are competing for votes against a background of cynicism about what might actually change.
In a sign that money is tight, electioneering has been somewhat muted compared to the past. This is despite the presidential race being seen as a rematch between the incumbent, Lazarus Chakwera, and the man he beat in 2020, then-President Peter Mutharika.
There are 15 other candidates.
But the usual colourful campaign carnival is missing. The free T-shirts usually doled out with abandon to whip up enthusiasm are more limited.
There are fewer giant election billboards on the nation’s main roads.
Back in the snaking petrol lines, patience runs thin, which has at times led to fist fights.
Peter Mutharika (L) and Lazarus Chakwera (R) have been political rivals for the past decade [BBC / AFP via Getty Images]
Sensing the fuel shortage was becoming an election issue, Chakwera has tried to tackle it head on.
In a televised address, eight days before polls open, he acknowledged the frustration and apologised. The president then turned his fire on allegedly corrupt officials who he accused of deliberately sabotaging the oil market.
Like fuel, new job opportunities are also hard to come by.
To put food on the table, young men have been selling petrol and diesel using small plastic containers at five times the official price.
In the southern town of Mangochi, they refused to be interviewed except to say, as they walked away, that preying on desperate motorists was the only way to survive.
With food costs rising at more than 30% in the past year, and wages not keeping pace, things are becoming harder to afford.
The high inflation rate has been partly put down to a shortage of foreign currency, which has forced some importers to buy US dollars on the more expensive black market. The costs have then been passed on to the consumer.
“When young people cast their ballots next week, they should think about the poverty crisis””, Source: Monica Chinoko, Source description: Malawian voter, Image: A head shot of a Malawian voter taken on the roadside. She has short hair and is wearing a pink T-shirt.
The effect of the economic troubles on young people could be particularly significant in this election – as around half of registered voters are under the age of 35.
And yet the two leading presidential candidates are considerably older. Chakwera is 70 and Mutharika is 85.
“When young people cast their ballots next week, they should think about the poverty crisis. The coming president should fix the employment rate because many of the young people are unemployed,” said 33-year-old Monica Chinoko, who works in the capital, Lilongwe.
Many younger voters have told the BBC that these continuous problems have dampened enthusiasm for the elections.
“Looking at the candidates – it’s really a tough choice to make because hope has been lost. We’ve been voting and voting but things haven’t gotten better,” said Ashley Phiri, 35. “But I’m hoping that this time around, the next leader will radically transform Malawi.”
Supporters of opposition candidate Peter Mutharika argue that things were better when he was in State House [BBC]
Mutharika’s election convoy has made several stops in the villages along the Bakili Muluzi highway.
In one place, a supporter held up a sign saying “back to state house” and said life was better when the former president was in office.
At a Mutharika rally in Machinga, an elderly woman wearing a colourful headscarf and sarong held up a huge bucket and shouted “fertiliser”.
She was highlighting the crucial issue for the 80% of the population who live in rural areas. Many of these people survive on what they grow on their smallholdings and make money from what is left over.
Chakwera had promised to reduce the cost of the vital farming input – but the price has gone in the opposite direction. It is now six times more than it was in 2019.
The president has “accused some opposition parties of working with private traders to distort fertiliser prices”, his office said. He has pledged to smallholder farmers that the price will come back down under a targeted programme due to start next month.
Supporters of Lazarus Chakwera are confident he will be re-elected [BBC]
Chakwera has had a tough five years at the helm but remains optimistic.
He says he is investing in the future of the country and as a headline policy he has pledged that the state will deposit 500,000 Malawi kwacha ($290; £210) in individual accounts for every child born after the general election. They will be able to access it once they reach 18.
Another former president, Joyce Banda – the country’s only female head of state – is also running again. She has pledged to fight corruption, transform the economy and improve rural infrastructure.
The other presidential candidates, including Atupele Muluzi, Dalitso Kabambe and current Vice-President Michael Usi, have all promised radical change in one of the world’s poorest countries.
There is no shortage of choice on the ballot paper, but Malawians will be hoping that whoever emerges as the winner – after Tuesday’s vote or a possible second round – will be able to put more food on the table and more fuel in the tank.
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