BLANTYRE, Malawi
Malawi’s incumbent leader, Lazarus Chakwera, has conceded defeat in the election and congratulated his opponent, Peter Mutharika, on his victory.
Chakwera made this acknowledgement during a speech aired on the state-run Malawi Broadcasting Corporation on Wednesday, just an hour and a half before the announcement of the final results by the country’s electoral authority.
“Two nights ago, the Malawi Electoral Commission announced the validated results of the presidential election from eleven Councils, bringing the total to twenty-four, with only the results of twelve Councils remaining. From those official results, it was clear that my main rival, His Excellency Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party, had already secured an insurmountable lead and is the presumptive winner of the presidential election. For this reason, a moment ago, I called Professor Mutharika directly to congratulate him on his historic victory and to wish him well in his upcoming tenure as the seventh President of the Republic of Malawi,” he said
“I have done this because I accept the results of the presidential election that the Malawi Electoral Commission has already validated and released, just as I will accept the final result that the Commission is scheduled to announce at 2 pm,” he added.
His concession follows the announcement of preliminary results, which indicate that former President Peter Mutharika has secured over the necessary 50 per cent of the votes cast thus far.
Given the deteriorating economy, marked by an inflation rate nearing 30%, alongside fuel shortages and high fertiliser costs affecting the agriculture-dependent nation of nearly 21 million citizens, Chakwera’s defeat was not unexpected.
Mutharika, who governed Malawi from 2014 to 2020, campaigned on promises to rejuvenate the economy by enhancing the agriculture and education sectors.
With a worsening economy characterised by high inflation of nearly 30% coupled with fuel shortages and high fertiliser prices for the agro-based nation, the loss of Chakwera was not a surprise.
Mutharika, who ruled Malawi between 2014 and 2020, campaigned with messages of revamping the economy by revitalising the agriculture and education sectors.
“My government will deploy a combination of fiscal, foreign exchange, monetary and debt management measures to stabilise the economy,” he said during his campaign.
He explained that his priority investments will be made into the following growth-generating sectors: “Power generation, mining, railway, roads, industrial parks, export processing zones, airports and tourism.”
Chakwera leads the Malawi Congress Party, which is a political rival to Mutharika’s Democratic Progressive Party.
The rivalry between Mutharika and Chakwera was thrust into the spotlight when Malawi’s Constitutional Court annulled Mutharika’s 2019 election victory due to irregularities, including the use of correction fluid on results sheets.
Malawi Electoral Commission chairperson Annabel Mtalimanja is expected to officially declare the 85-year-old law professor as the country’s President-elect in the capital Lilongwe on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, a day before the concession, the defeated incumbent [Lazarus Chakwera] and his ruling party on Tuesday evening attempted to use the courts to stop the announcement of the final results, but the courts rebuffed him
The court refused to grant him an injunction and advised him and his party to seek a judicial review.