Former president Peter Mutharika has opened up an early lead in Malawi’s presidential election, according to partial results released over the weekend.
Provisional results from about a quarter of the country’s councils put Mutharika at roughly 51 percent of the vote, while incumbent Lazarus Chakwera trails at 39 percent. The two men, representing Malawi’s dominant political parties, have long deemed seen as the front-runners in the September 16 contest.
The vote comes against the backdrop of widespread economic frustration. Since taking office in 2020, Chakwera, 70, has struggled to deliver on his reform agenda. Cyclones and drought devastated harvests, food insecurity has deepened, and annual inflation has hovered above 20 percent for more than three years.
Mutharika, now 85, is campaigning on a promise to restore stability. During his 2014–2020 presidency, he was praised for cutting inflation and pushing infrastructure projects, though critics accused his administration of favoritism and entrenched patronage networks.
Chakwera, for his part, rose to power on an anti-corruption platform. Yet his government’s record has come under fire, with critics saying corruption cases have been handled too slowly and too selectively.
The Malawi Electoral Commission has until September 24 to announce official provisional results. It has cautioned both candidates against claiming victory before all tally sheets are verified. A winner must secure more than 50 percent of valid ballots; otherwise, the race will head to a run-off.
Malawi’s political memory still lingers on the controversial 2019 vote, when Mutharika’s victory was annulled after irregularities were discovered, leading to a historic re-run that brought Chakwera to power. This year’s close contest has once again put the spotlight on the country’s fragile democracy—and on how the electoral body manages the final stages of the count.
