Mutharika Declared Malawi’s Seventh President
By Delisa Magagula
Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika has been declared the winner of Malawi’s 2025 presidential election, securing a decisive victory to return to the State House as the country’s seventh President.
The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) announced the results on Wednesday evening, following a thorough verification process and resolution of post-election complaints.
Out of 7.2 million registered voters, 5.5 million cast their ballots, representing a turnout of 76.4%. Mutharika, leader of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), polled 3,035,249 votes, representing 56.8 per cent of the valid votes cast.
His closest challenger, incumbent President Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), secured 1,765,170 votes, or 33 per cent.
Seventeen candidates contested the presidency, but the race largely came down to Mutharika and Chakwera. UTM Party candidate Dr Dalitso Kabambe finished a distant third with 211,413 votes (4 per cent).
Former President Joyce Banda of the People’s Party attracted 86,106 votes (1.6 per cent).
Meanwhile, MEC Chairperson Justice Annabel Mtalimanja stated that the results reflected the will of the Malawian people.
“The Commission has meticulously followed the entire electoral process based on the law that governs elections in Malawi. We assess that this presidential election was free and fair and that these results are a true reflection of the will of the people,” she said.
District-by-district results underlined Mutharika’s dominance. He won overwhelmingly in the Southern Region, including Mangochi (257,098 votes), Blantyre (118,691 votes) and Phalombe (134,205 votes).
Chakwera, however, held strong in the Central Region, winning Lilongwe (511,625 votes), Kasungu (160,210 votes) and Mchinji (126,187 votes).
Despite some polling anomalies and more than 155,000 void votes, the Commission said these did not affect the outcome. “It is the voter who decides who wins the election,” Mtalimanja said.
The Commission noted that the President-elect cannot be sworn in before the expiry of seven days and not later than 30 days after the results are declared, in line with the Constitution.
In her closing remarks, Justice Mtalimanja urged Malawians to accept the outcome peacefully.
“What binds us together as Malawians is much stronger than what separates us into political parties. Let us all work together to give our future generations a stronger and prosperous Malawi,” she said.
With this victory, Mutharika returns to lead Malawi five years after leaving office, carrying the hopes of millions of voters who endorsed his comeback.
