By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Malawi’s electoral commission on Wednesday declared former President Peter Mutharika as the winner of last week’s presidential election, a huge comeback that has attracted widespread excitement in the Southern African nation.
According to official results, Mutharika secured 57% of the vote, leaving the incumbent President Lazarus Chakwera, 70 with 33%.
The commission said it took the full eight days it was allowed to announce the result because it wanted to check everything carefully and address the complaints first.
The 2019 election, also won by Mutharika, was annulled by the country’s highest court, which said there had been widespread irregularities, including the use of correction fluid to alter results.
Chakwera won the rerun by a huge margin the following year. This was the fourth electoral duel between both leaders.
Mutharika’s older brother Bingu also served as President and died in office in 2012.
Mutharika, a former professor of law, served as president from 2014 to 2020, when he lost to Chakwera by a wide margin.
In his concession speech, Chakwera said that even though he had concerns about “irregularities” and “anomalies”, he was accepting the outcome out of respect for the majority of Malawians’ “collective will to have a change of government”.
“The anomalies do not necessarily mean that the election result projecting Professor Mutharika as the winner is not credible or a reflection of the will of the people,” he said.
His speech sparked celebrations among Mutharika’s supporters in Lilongwe, with hundreds singing and dancing on the streets.
