“Wantam” Shadow Falls Looms Malawi Vote Amid Conflicting Victory Claims

The parties of the two main candidates in Malawi’s presidential election declared victory Thursday, drawing rebukes from the electoral commission, which has not yet announced results.

According to The Associated Press, Tuesday’s vote is expected to be a close race between President Lazarus Chakwera, and challenger Peter Mutharika, the former president who was defeated by Chakwera in the annulled 2019 election’s rerun five years ago.

Officials from Chakwera’s Malawi Congress Party and Mutharika’s Democratic Progressive Party held separate press conferences claiming their candidates had won. The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) confirmed it has counted more than 99 percent of ballots but emphasized that no results have been declared.

Electoral Commission Pushes Back

“The commission will not hurry the results management process just because some political party leaders and candidates are piling up pressure,” MEC chairperson Justice Annabel Mtalimanja told AP. She urged all parties to respect the counting procedures.

Under Malawian law, election officials must declare the results of the presidential election within seven days of polling stations closing, AP reported.

Economic Strain Shapes the Vote

Chakwera, 70, rose to power in 2020 after Malawi’s Constitutional Court annulled the disputed 2019 election that initially declared Mutharika, 85, the winner. Reuters noted that the annulment marked Malawi as only the second African nation after Kenya to overturn a presidential vote through the courts.

With the country facing inflation above 20 percent, fuel shortages, and food insecurity, analysts told Al Jazeera that the outcome will test whether voters still trust Malawi’s democratic process to deliver change.

Rumors of the president’s defeat quickly spread across social media, sparking celebrations in some quarters. In Kenya, users drew parallels to their own political climate, with some suggesting the outcome could foreshadow challenges for President William Ruto, who is grappling with rising dissent at home.

The contest has also drawn regional attention. According to the Nordic Africa Institute, voters in Senegal, Botswana, and Mauritius ousted incumbents in 2024, underscoring a continental “One Term Wave,” which Kenyans spell as “WANTAM.”

As ballots near their official conclusion, Malawi remains on edge. The outcome will determine whether Chakwera retains his seat or Mutharika stages a comeback.