- Malawi’s Lazarus Chakwera: “It is only right that I concede defeat out of respect for your will as citizens and out of respect for the constitution.”
- Mutharika has managed to secure an estimated 66 per cent the votes cast compared to the incumbent’s just over 24 per cent.
- Chakwere: “It was clear that my rival Peter Mutharika has an insurmountable lead over me. In the days that remain, I want you to know that I am committed to a peaceful transfer of power.”
President Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi has accepted that former President Peter Mutharika defeated him during the election done last week. In a speech made on Wednesday to a nation on edge since the polls were done last week, Chakwera, 70, told the nation that he has already reached out to President elect Mutharika.
“It is only right that I concede defeat out of respect for your will as citizens and out of respect for the constitution,” Chakwera stated, adding: “It was clear that my rival Peter Mutharika has an insurmountable lead over me. In the days that remain, I want you to know that I am committed to a peaceful transfer of power.”
According to data from the country’s electoral agency, Mutharika has managed to secure an estimated 66 per cent the votes cast compared to the incumbent’s just over 24 per cent. The capital Lilongwe is deserted as millions of nationals follow vote count proceedings via radio and TV from their homes.
For the past one week, Malawians and election observers across the world have been anxiously awaiting the final result as the election was held eight days ago. The polls body said it has taken its time to ensure the results are accurate. Since the polls were carried out last week, Chakwera’s party has been piling complaints of “serious anomalies.
Chakwera blamed for inaction on corruption, runaway inflation
Since 2020 when Chakwera was elected on the promise of economic turnaround, the southern African country continues to wallow in growth stagnation. Official statistics show that the prices of basic goods and services have continued to increase, with inflation at a high of 33 per cent. Currently, the costs of food, maize and fertiliser is out of reach for millions of people in the impoverished nation where three out of four Malawians live below the $3 a day poverty line.
While the incumbent Chakwera rode to power with a strong promise to fight corruption in the country, critics accuse him of selcetive justice, often turning too slow in action on perceived corrupt individuals and practices.
In the campaign period, Chakera’s rival, Prof. Mutharika was lauded for infrastruture investments as well as measures to check the rise in cost of goods and services during his term in office between 2014 and 2020.
Just before Covid-19 pandemic struck in 2019, Mutharika’s election in that year was annulled by the courts due to irresgularities such as the use of correction fluid on election record sheets. In the ensuing runoff, Mutharika, 85, lost to Chakwera.
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Chakwera joins list of incumbent presidents defeated in elections
From Blaise Compaoré’s ouster in Burkina Faso in 2014 to the 2024 wave of upsets in Senegal, Ghana, and Botswana, Malawi’s Chakwera joins incumbent presidents in Africa who have been swept out of power in a tough era characterised by youth-led revolt and economic discontent among populations.
The early 2010s marked the beginning of this trend with high-profile defeats that exposed the vulnerabilities of Africa’s strong men. In Burkina Faso, Blaise Compaoré, who had held power since 1987, faced a failed referendum in 2014 to extend his term, sparking nationwide protests that forced his resignation and exile.
Similarly, Nigeria’s Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat to Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, a historic peaceful handover in Africa’s most populous nation, amid widespread frustration over corruption and insecurity. These events, driven by opposition coalitions and civil society, set a precedent for challenging entrenched power, though Compaoré’s case escalated into a coup.
The momentum continued into the mid-2010s and surged in recent years, with incumbents like Gambia’s Yahya Jammeh losing to Adama Barrow in 2016 after 22 years in office, only to refuse concession until ECOWAS military intervention ousted him.
Liberia’s George Weah fell to Joseph Boakai in 2023, amid economic woes, while 2024 saw a remarkable wave: Senegal’s Macky Sall’s proxy was defeated by Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Ghana’s Mahamudu Bawumia lost to John Dramani Mahama, Botswana’s Mokgweetsi Masisi was ousted by Duma Boko.
Read also: Senegal’s President-elect Bassirou Diomaye Faye promises a fresh chapter
