The Tonse alliance torch bearer Dr Lazarus Chakwera has been declared winner of the just ended presidential elections . Malawi electoral commission made the official announcement today at College of Medicine tally centre in Blantyre
In making the announcement chairperson of electoral commission said Dr Lazarus Chakwera amassed 2604 043 votes which represents 58.7% as compared to Peter Mutharika with 1751877 and Peter Kuwani with 32456
This means that Chakwera is the outright winner as its mandated that a winner need to obtain 50+1 votes.
Early this evening President Mutharika described the elections as the worst in the history of Malawi citing that they were alot of irregularities that have been ignored such as attacks on DPP monitors especially in central region.
Chakwera was beamed watching the event with his family in Lilongwe. Making a comment on the outcome Malawi Congress party Diaspora Spokesman Chalo Mvula told 247media that the results represents freedom day for all Malawians ” Chakwera win is a win for every malawi. its good that we are starting a new chapter for our country ” Mvula said .
Chakwera becomes the 6th President of Malawi. He is due to be sworn in on Sunday at Bingu stadium.
President Mutharika and his running mate Atupele Muluzi are still struggling to come to terms with the fact that Malawians haven’t voted for them . At a press conference held today at Sanjika palace Mutharika exposed how much he is in denial and out of touch after describing this years elections as the worst in history due to irregularities
President Peter Mutharika has claimed that the June 23 Fresh Presidential Elections are the worst ever elections in the history of the country. Appearing worn out and at times shaky Mutharika said the elections have been affected by irregularities such as the abduction of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) monitors. Mutharika also claimed that some tally sheets were not signed by authentic DPP monitors.
Mutharika at Sanjika today
The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) is expected to announce the results of the elections today but unofficial results show that opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera has won the polls.
Mutharika however , came close to conceding defeat when he called for the respect of the office of the president and urged Malawians to maintain peace after the results are announced.
“Much as I find this election unacceptable, but for the sake of peace and the love of our country, I wish to ask all Malawians to be peaceful when the results are announced. It is my sincere hope that we will unite to take this country forward instead of backwards,” said Mutharika.
Speaking after Mutharika, DPP runningmate in the elections Atupele Muluzi said the DPP expected the electoral commission to manage the elections in accordance to what he said are principles set by the Constitutional Court that nullified the 2019 Elections.
He also claimed that the June 23 elections were affected by acts of violence and that monitors of the DPP were attacked in Lilongwe, Chitipa, Dowa, Ntchisi and Nkhatabay.
Police spokesman James Kadadzera said he was not immediately aware of reports on violence and intimidation.
The electoral commission said earlier it had received complaints from the DPP on alleged violence against the party’s monitors.
Tuesday’s vote was regarded as a test of the ability of African courts to tackle ballot fraud and restrain presidential power.
The judiciary infuriated Mutharika in February by overturning the result of an election last year that had given him a second term, citing irregularities, and ordering a re-run.
If defeated in the re-run, Mutharika — in power since 2014 — could choose to either challenge the result in court or step aside.
When 2019 presidential contenders, Dr. Lazarus Chakwera and Dr. Saulos Chilima, took the 2019 presidential results to court, doom-mongers were all over, casting pessimism on the duo’s cause.
Controversial ‘winner’, President Professor Peter Mutharika, also joined the verbal assault against the opposition, calling them “big time losers”. Mutharika went on challenge angry protesters mobilized by Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC), calling their demonstrations as gainless.
“Let them demonstrate till 2024,” he mocked, to the deafening ululation of DPP supporters.
Understandably, the pessimists, including Mutharika, were motivated by the history. For Malawi’s political history has never been kind to “losing” opposition candidates in far as their quest for electoral justice is concerned.
Every time the elections were challenged in court by the dissatisfied opposition candidates, the ruling never went their way.
In 1999, the late Gwanda Chakwamba challenged the presidential results, accusing Dr. Bakili Muluzi of rigging the election in his favour. But the court upheld Muluzi’s victory.
In 2004, Chakwamba almost went to court again after another “unfathomable” ‘loss’ to Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika of United Democratic Front (UDF). Chakwamba was later appeased with a peace deal which later saw him serve in the Mutharika administration as a cabinet minister. That was the last Chakwamba was seen relevant, politically. But certainly not the last for losing candidates’ quest for electoral justice.
Outgoing President- Mutharika
After feeling short-changed by the 2009 presidential poll results, John Zenus Ungapake Tembo (JZU) went back to the court for electoral justice. But just like in 1999, the court upheld the 2009 poll results which put the late Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika as a winner with an assailable 67 percent of the total votes. And that was the last court move by JZU.
With Chakwamba and Tembo’s bad days in court, Malawians started establishing a position. Many started living with the fact that “losing” opposition political leaders would never emerge victorious against presidential results in Malawi’s courts.
So, when Dr Saulos Chilima and Dr. Lazarus Chakwera joined 2019 presidential campaign trail, assuring Malawians that no one would rig the elections this time around, some pessimists, as they did with Chakwamba and Tembo, simply poured scorn on their claims.
Nevertheless, Dr. Lazarus Chawera, JZU successor at MCP, never tired from from standing up to electoral injustice. And in 2019, he never waited for the final results to launch his challenge.
Barely two days after Malawians cast their vote, Dr. Lazarus Chakwera held An impromptu presser in Blantyre—just a few kilometres away from the main tally centre—accusing Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) of colluding with some compromised officials in twisting the figures in Arthur Peter Mutharika’s favour.
“Some evil people have stepped into the vacuum either to give you false information or to try to interfere with the process of tallying the results in a desperate and failed attempt to subvert the clear will of Malawians” he charged.
Tonse alliance launch
Dr. Chakwera wasn’t crying foul alone.
A few days later, UTM President Dr.Saulos Klaus Chilima, another hot contender in the polls, rung alarm bells, calling the presidential election a “sham”. Dr. Chilima, popularly known as SKC in political circles by his admirers, cited ‘a plethora of irregularities’ as having undermined the presential elections.
In his highly charged presser in June in Lilongwe, Dr. Chilima faulted Malawi Electoral Commission for having “dismally failed in its constitutional duty to the people of Malawi by being involved in a scheme aimed at ultimately subverting the will of the people of Malawi.”
“Some of the irregularities for which we have credible evidence and proof are failure to collect and seal away extra ballot boxes before counting and compiling results, thereby making extra ballot papers available for post-polling marking and stuffing to consummate the fraudulent results records or post-future verification against the ballot in peril.”
SKC punched his challenge against the results by calling for fresh presidential elections. A daring demand, one would say.
With that statement, SKC and Chakwera kick-started a seven month-long quest for electoral justice in Malawi’s court.
As usual, the government, led by the Attorney General Kalekeni Kaphale, made several attempts aimed at discrediting the petition by the complainants. Kaphale grounded his defense on trivializing the electoral irregularies, describing as too insignificant to affect the final outcome of the presidential vote.
But the complainants legal teams for both SKC and Chakwera stood their ground. They repeatedly cited use of tippex, a correction fluid, use of fake result sheets and intimidation of monitors as serious violations of the electoral laws.
And on 3rd February 2020, the judiciary, sitting as a constitutional court, agreed to complainants’ prayers and duly nullified the elections. The court went on to order for fresh elections within the next 150 days. It was the kind of ruling that reverberated across the country’s borders.
The Financial Times of UK described the ruling as a victory for African democracy”.
“In an era when electoral integrity is under threat even in established democracies, the members of Malawi’s constitutional court stand out for their bravery. The pressure on them to rubber-stamp an election that was marred by gross irregularities—including liberal use of white correction fluid on voting tarries was enormous,” read the Financial Times’ reaction.
SKC and Chakwera quest for justice was further affirmed by the Supreme Court of Appeal which went further by interpreting the majority rule as getting 50+1 of the total votes.
A bitter and visibly defiant and reluctant Mutharika finally went back to the polls on 23rd June to seek a free, fair, credible re-election against the combined forces of MCP, UTM and other six political parties. And, somehow, Malawi’s democracy survived.
With unofficial results suggesting a win for opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera in a re-run of a Malawi’s presidential polls, President Peter Mutharika’s running mate Atupele Muluzi has said DPP-UDF supporters should wait for the final official tally by Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), claiming results in public domain are not correct.
Atupele said on Friday there were “massive irregularities” noted in the elections and that the true reflection on the will of the people will come from MEC legalised declared results.
He urged DPP and UDF supporters to disregard results published on social media and wait for an official announcement from MEC.
Atupele said MEC is the only institution legally mandated to announce a winner of any national election; hence, all announcements from other stakeholders are irrelevant.
His comments comes after President Mutharika accused the opposition of inciting violence where DPP monitors were beaten and hacked a day before the election after isolated incidents that the police and Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) said had not affected the election.
Atupele said they will press for “real results”.
Analysts suggest President Mutharika may be preparing to challenge the outcome in case he loses.
“I think he is preparing the political, maybe the legal ground, for losing,” Peter Fabricius of the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies said.
Atupele Muluzi
Editor-in-Chief of Malawi media giant Times Group, George Kasakula, speaking on Times TV at National Tally Centre in Blantyre on Friday said DPP-UDF were “looking for anti-hill where there are none,” saying the refusal to accept the results circulated by private media was “an act of desperation.”
He said: “They should produce an image of acceptance. They should concede that Malawians have punished us.”
But the DPP-UDF alliance claims Malawi Congress Party (MCP) had already printed MEC B6 Forms which were already filled in and were delivered to the centres at night in the absence of DPP monitors.
The B6 Form for reporting to MEC was allegedly swapped in many centres. The version of B6 Form that went to MEC was set to make Chakwera win.
“As a result, in most centres the numbers of actual voters exceeded registered voters,” said Atupele.
He said DPP-UDF will accept only certified results after the Electoral Commission have carried out “their investigations thoroughly and done all the required audits of the electoral materials.”
In a media briefing earlier, MEC chairperson Justice Dr Chifundo Kachale said the commission will be updating the nation on the results at 20 percent intervals.
“The Commission appreciates how important it is to release the final results and we are doing everything possible we can to ensure that this process is concluded in time. However, this will not be done at the expense of legality of the process and quality controls,” said Kachale, a judge of the High Court of Malawi.
“Where the public feels that we are not moving at a faster pace than expected, our appeal is that you should be patient and understand that the Commission does not wish to be faulted on procedure and legality.
“The Commission expects that all stakeholders will appreciate this and stand with us,” he said.
Malawians voted on Tuesday for the country’s president in a rerun of the 2019 election that was nullified by the courts because of vote tampering.
Likoma Second Grade Magistrate Court has convicted and sentenced a 27- year-old man, Limbani Ambali, from Chingole Village in Traditional Authority Mwadama in Nkhotakota, to 32 months imprisonment with hard labour (IHL) for breaking and unlawful wounding.
Police spokesperson for Likoma, Sub-Inspector Mcliff Ngulube, said the court, through State Prosecutor, Sergeant Sefu Phiri, heard that Ambali broke into a bar belonging to Thomas Tambala and went away with goods worth MK400, 000.
The court heard that on June 17, 2020 the offender was caught in the act by the barman who sleeps in the bar that had shouted to alert and seek help from his boss.
Phiri said a struggle ensued as the suspect used all tactics to overpower the barman and his boss. The suspect managed to escape after wounding the barman and his boss.
He was arrested later in the morning.
During court proceedings, the suspect denied all the charges until the court had found the suspect guilty after parading three witnesses who proved the case beyond reasonable doubt.
The police prosecutor asked the court for a stiffer punishment, saying the accused was a habitual offender.
In mitigation, Ambali pleaded for leniency, saying he was drunk and looks after his younger sister.
“However, Second Grade Magistrate Ford Watch Mkandawire quashed the mitigation factors, saying there was no excuse for his actions.
“He then sentenced the accused to 32 months imprisonment with hard labour.
