LILONGWE, Sept 24 (The African Portal) – Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera has conceded defeat in the country’s recently held presidential election.
Malawi went to the polls last week, with President Lazarus facing a strong contest from the country’s former president, Mutharika, an 85-year-old former lawyer and law lecturer, who led Malawi from 2014 to 2020.
Chakwera says he has phoned ex-President Peter Mutharika to congratulate him.
In the votes announced so far, Mutharika has got about 66% of the votes compared to Chakwera’s 24%. However, the country’s election commission has delayed the announcement of the official result until the evening.
Malawians have been anxiously awaiting the final result as the election was held eight days ago. The election commission says it has taken its time to ensure the results are accurate.
Meanwhile, Chakwera’s party had complained of “serious anomalies” during the counting process and has filed a suit at the High Court of Malawi. However, the suit has been rejected by the court.
Court documents show that Chakwera and MCP wanted a court order and judicial review over the alleged failure or refusal by Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) to determine the party’s complaint on alleged electoral irregularities.
