The election officials have begun counting votes after the people of Malawi cast their votes on Tuesday in what has been described as one of the country’s most unpredictable presidential elections. Nearly seven million people went to the polls on Tuesday to vote and select their new president, members of parliament and local government councilors.
President Peter Mutharika is seeking a second term in the election. His main challengers are his deputy, Saulos Chilima, and the leader of the country’s biggest opposition party, Lazarus Chakwera.
Mr. Chilima, left the president’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) last year. He fell out with Mr. Mutharika after the president’s fitness to run for office, at the age of 78, was questioned.
“I am happy that I have voted,” said Mutharika, 78, said after leaving a polling station in Thyolo town outside Blantyre, reported The South African. “There are very long lines but I am encouraging everyone to vote because it is the people who will decide.”
In Malawi elections, the candidate who gets the largest share of the votes is declared the winner. Mr. Mutharika won the last election in 2014, winning just 36.4 percent of the votes.
Mutharika’s first term in office failed to curb corruption and there were a series of albino murders that made headlines internationally. Last November, the President himself was ordered to return a $200,000 (180,000 euro) donation from a businessman facing a corruption case in a $3-million contract to supply food to the Malawi police. However, this time he has promised a leaner cabinet and better infrastructure.
Malawi is still reeling from the devastating Cyclone Idai which hit the country in March, killing 59 people. The storm also created havoc through Mozambique and Zimbabwe, leaving nearly 1,000 dead.
The final voting results are expected within the next few days.
