• Peter Mutharika, re-elected president, has pledged to create one million jobs and provide free secondary education.
• The IPOR survey predicted his victory, and undecided voters helped to widen his margin of support in the final results.
• Lazarus Chakwera leaves office after a tenure marked by Covid, the Ukraine war, Cyclone Freddy, and a drought, with inflation and food insecurity.

Professor Peter Mutharika has been re-elected president of Malawi, taking office with a towering campaign pledge to create one million jobs. Alongside this, he promised free secondary education, fiscal decentralization, investments in energy and infrastructure, and measures to stabilize the struggling kwacha. His Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) manifesto also pledged to strengthen governance, improve food security, and revive a fragile economy that had been battered by inflation and foreign-exchange shortages.

The election, closely watched across Southern Africa, ended with Mutharika defeating incumbent Lazarus Chakwera. Just before the vote, the Institute of Public Opinion and Research (IPOR), a Malawian survey body, correctly predicted Mutharika’s victory, though by a smaller margin. Analysts suggest that undecided voters broke late in favor of the DPP, giving the former leader a stronger win than polls anticipated. The result also underscored Malawi’s enduring political reality: voters largely cast ballots along regional and ethnic lines, with strong support for Mutharika in the southern heartland, frustration in the north, and discontent in the central region over Chakwera’s leadership.

Chakwera’s presidency, which began in 2020 after Malawi’s courts annulled the 2019 vote, coincided with overlapping global and domestic shocks — the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, Cyclone Freddy, and a record drought that deepened food insecurity. His administration implemented cost-cutting measures such as suspending foreign travel and halving fuel allowances for senior officials. He also leaned on the IMF for support as the kwacha slid and inflation soared above 20%.

While Chakwera was praised early on for upholding judicial independence and pledging to fight corruption, critics accused him of selective enforcement, nepotism in cabinet appointments, and failing to deliver meaningful economic relief. Public confidence ebbed as prices rose, food shortages worsened, and the currency remained under pressure.

Mutharika’s return now raises expectations of a sharp policy reset. Beyond the headline promise of one million jobs, his agenda includes making secondary education free, devolving state finances to local levels, auditing and restructuring natural-resource contracts, expanding energy generation, and attracting investment to infrastructure projects.

Voters endorsed these promises in a climate of deep frustration. The DPP campaigned on a message of rescue and restoration, tapping into discontent over high living costs and dwindling opportunities. But the president faces the challenge of turning campaign rhetoric into results without jeopardizing fiscal stability — a balancing act complicated by external shocks, aid dependency, and entrenched structural weaknesses.

Mutharika, who previously governed from 2014 to 2020, inherits a nation weary of broken promises but still hopeful for change. His political capital is strong after a clear electoral mandate. Whether he can deliver amid ethnic divides, fragile institutions, and mounting climate risks will define not only his second presidency but also Malawi’s economic trajectory for years to come.

Idriss Linge