The nullification of May 21,2019 presidential election results has seen the citizens of Malawian ushering into office of the president a new leader following the Fresh Presidential Election in the name of Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera
Chakwera who stood on the ticket of Tonse alliance is the president of the longest political party in Malawi (Malawi Congress Party) and will be the *6th* president to lead Malawi since independence in 1964. Dr. Chakwera who is coming from the background of being a church minister and president of the Malawi Assemblies of God Church from 1989 to May 14, 2013 will be the first pastoral president to lead Malawi.
His election has come with a great hope to Malawians for a new Malawi which will unite Malawians from all the 3 regions. Dr. Lazarus Chakwera has amassed almost 2,597,088 votes (close to 60%) to defeat the incumbent president Professor Peter Mutharika who got nearly 1,742,082 votes. Malawi has had 5 presidents since independence who are Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda (1964-1994), Dr. Bakili Muluzi (1994-2004), Professor Bingu Wa Mutharika (2004-2012), Dr. Joyce Banda (2012-2014) and the outgoing Professor Peter Mutharika (2014-to-date).
The electoral body in Malawi, Malawi Electoral Commission is yet to make the official announcement to declare the winner.
President Peter Mutharika whose presidency appears to be slipping away has said he is prepared not to accept defeat if results doesn’t go his way
Mutharika, speaking to journalist said the level of violence that has preceeded this election is worrying |” The commissioners are doing a great job, we have had alot of violence especially in central and northen region, i would urge the electoral commission to stop these elections otherwise DPP will not accept the results” a visbly shaken Mutharika said.
Mutharika casting his vote earlier on
Early indications suggest Dr Lazarus Chakwera of Tonse Alliance is taking a huge lead. There has been reports of people who have confessed being sent by DPP , being caught with fake ballot papers
Malawi electoral commission is scheduled to announce the winner by Wednesday afternoon. however the commission has another 8 days if there can been other issues that need sorting out
Malawi hip-hop star Fredokiss, real name Penjani Kalua, has been detained by Malawi Defence Force (MDF) soldiers at Chiweta in Rumphi for allegedly issuing cash handouts to prospective voters in the fresh presidential elections on Tuesday.
Fredokiss, son to Member of Parliament for the area Kamlepo Kalua, was picked together with his two friends.
He was taken to Chitimba police station.
His father Kalua, a Minister of Lands, said he was following up on the same
Elsewhere, a man has been arrested after being caught taking pictures of his ballot paper after marking a candidate of his choice at Mzimba LEA polling station.
According to the Centre’s Presiding Officer, Lawrence Kalinga, the arrested man has been handed over to police in the district for further interrogation.
As the country goes to the polls today, commander in chief of people power movement CFT Timothy Mtambo has cast his vote. Mtambo exercised his right to vote at DC office in Lilongwe. He has however, warned those that are planning to disturb the electoral process
Speaking to Nyasa Times after he voted Mtambo said he was happy that he had exercised his right to vote. Mtambo, wearing his usual baseball cap, this time with words “ Go away” signifying that its now time for Mutharika to go, said he was proud that the battle that Malawians embarked on after last years elections, going to court and getting on the streets to demand for their freedom and right to vote is finally happening.
Mtambo took time to make a rallying call to all the people that haven’t made their way to the polling stations yet “I would like to urge all the people that haven’t gone to cast their vote yet to do so. This is a wonderful moment and people have to take this opportunity and make their voices heard”
However Mtambo had a quick warning to those that are planning to cause disruptions or interfering in the electoral process warning that Malawians are angry and will not let anybody try “ We have heard of reports since yesterday of some people trying to impinge the freedom of Malawians by planning to manipulate or interfere with the electoral process. My warning to them and anybody else who is planning those kind of things is that Malawians are tired and angry and they wont let
Mtambo has urged all Malawians to be vigilant while refraining from violence at the same time
The Deputy Secretary general of Malawi Congress Party who is also the speaker of Parliament Hon Catherine Gotani has thanked Party members in the diaspora for Money donation towards election monitoring. She made the remarks in Mzuzu when a cheque of over K9 million kwacha was presented to the Tambala fund.
As the country goes to the polls on Tuesday The Diaspora wing of the opposition MCP under the banner Malawi Congress Party Diaspora Chapter (MCPDN) today made a donation of MK9 728920.43 million kwacha to the party in Malawi which will help in the cost of election monitoring.
Presenting the cheque to the party was the MCP Diaspora Malawi representative Dyson Chikolera. Speaking to 247Malawi media , Chikolera said his colleagues in the diaspora saw the need to help the party in Malawi. “ It’s a crucial election , we want to make sure we secure our vote by having enough monitors , we have won past elections but didn’t do enough to secure our vote leaving a loophole that led to election rigging, we want to close that this time” said Chikolera .
Hon Gotani Hara and Hon Gracious Soko receiving cheque from MCP Diaspora rep Dyson Chikolera
Also present at the presentation was MCP Regional Chairman for the North Hon Gracious Soko who welcomed the donation describing it as timely and vital. Gotani Hara said the party in Malawi is grateful to its members in the diaspora “ Let me thank all our members in diaspora and all other well wishers for this donation, it has been our wish to make sure we have strong monitoring for the election in order to safeguard our vote “ said Gotani Hara
MCP Diaspora Network is an umbrella group that comprises of regional groups from Canada, Republic of Ireland , USA , Canada, RSA ,UK and members of Malawian origin from various countries a round the world all of whom contributed towards this donation.
The Spokesperson of the group, Chalo Mvula highlighted that the group had to identify an area it could help the party in Malawi with during this election “ We sat down and thought monitoring is key and we embarked on fundraising to make sure we donate something towards this . Let me thank all MCP Diaspora members from all our wings in Ireland, Canada, USA ,UK RSA and all the other countries for their donations despite the challenges that were there -it just shows that though we are not in Malawi still we care for our country” Mvula said.
Mvula was also quick to acknowledge members of others parties from Tonse alliance who patronised some of the fundraising events “We are very thankful for the support from our colleagues from Parties in Tonse alliance , there support helped us reach the amount we have reached and it just highlights the unity and positive working relationship that is there in Tonse Alliance”
Malawi goes to the polls on Tuesday 23 to elect a new president With Tonse Alliance Torch Bearer Dr Lazarus Chakwera , the favourite to win.
