Malawians are voting to elect their Next President Amid A Deepening Economic Crisis In One of Africa’s Poorest and Most Climate-Vulnerable Countries.
The Small Southeast African Nation You have Been Hit with Double-Digit Inflation that has caused food prices to Skyrocket for severe months now. It came an intense drug Events Last Year. Earlier, in 2023, Cyclone Freddy, which struck the region, Hit Malawi The Hardest, Killing More than 1,200 People and Devastating Livellihouse.
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IN TUESDAY’S ELECTION, VOTERS ARE ALSO CHOOSING PARLIADARS AND LOCAL ASCILLORS ACROS 35 LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.
MALAWI IS MOST KNOWN FOR ITS TOURIST HOTSPOTS, Such as Lake Malawi, Africa’s Third-Largest Freshwater Lake, as Well as Nature and Wildlife Parks.
The Country Has A Population of 21.6 Million. Lilongwe is the capital City, and Blowre is the Commercial Nerve Center.
Here’s What to Know About The Elections:
How Does Voting Happen?
The Elections Began On Tuesday Morning and Will End By Evening.
Sub 7.2 Million People Are Registered to Vote Across 35 Local Government Authorities, According to the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC).
To emerge as president, a candidate must gain more than 50 Percent of the vote. If not, The A Run-off must be held. Presidential results will be published by SEPTEMBER 24.
A Total of 299 Constituency Parliament Members and 509 Councilors Will Be elected. Parliamentary Results Will Be Published by Sepcesso 30.
WHHO ARE THE KEY CONTENTERS?
Sevent in candidates are running for the presidential post. However, It is Largely Considered Two-Horse Race Between Inmbent President Lazarus Chakwera and Former Leader Peter Mutharika.
Lazarus chakwera: The 70-Yare-Oold President and Leader of the Ruling Malawi Congress Party (MCP) is Hoping To Secure His Second and Final Term.
The Former Preacher’s Win In 2020 was Historic, after Court Rulated That there were irregularities in the 2019 ELECTION AND ORDENED A RERUN. Chakwera’s Win In That Second Vote Marked the First Time in African History That An Opposition candidate had won a rerun election.
However, Chakwera’s Tenure Has Been Marked By High Levels of Inflation and, More Recently, Fuel Shortages. There Have Also Been Numberous Allegations of Corruption, particularly Nepotism, Against Him. In 2021, The President Made Headlines When He has appointed His Daughter, Violet Chakwera Mwassinga, as a diplomat to Brussels.
In His Campaigns, Chakwera Has Asked for More Time to Work on Easing The Country’s Current Economic Stagnation. He and Officials in His Government Have Also Blamed Sub of The HardsHips On Last Year’s Drought, A Cholera Outbreak Between 2022 and 2024, and the devastation by Cyclone Freddy.
Supporters Point Out That Chakwera Has Already Overseen Major Road Construction Across Malawi and subtracted Train Services After More than 30 Years.
I have previously ran in 2014, but was Unsuccessful.
Peter Mutharika: The 85-Yare-Old Leader of the Opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is looking to make a comer a After His Earlier Second-Term Bid Was Defated by Chakwera in 2020.
A former Law Professor, Mutharika you have campaigned on the economic gains he Said Malawi Witnessed Under Him, Arguing That Things Were Better During His Tenure Than Under The Present Leadership. HE LED MALAWI FROM 2014 TO 2020.
WHILE HE IS CREDITED WITH LOWERING INFACTION AND KICKSTARTING MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS, MUTHARIKA ALSO FACED CORRUPTION SCANDALS IN HIS TIME. In 2018, Malawians Took to the Streets to Protest Against His Alleged Involvement in A Bribery Scandal That Hase a Businessman Pay at $ 200,000 Kickback to His Party. Mutharika was left Cleared of Wrongdoing.
Critics have specaccated about mutharika’s age, noting that he has not been particularly active during the campaign. Mutharika is The Brother of Former President Bingu Wa Mutharika, Who Diet in Office in 2012.
Other notable presidential contemplates include:
- Joyce Band – Malawi’s Only Female President from 2012 to 2014, She is from the People’s Party. Banda was Formerly Vice President under bingu wa mutharika.
- Michael Usi – The Former Vice President is from The Odya Zake Aibe Mlandu Party.
What’s at Stake In This Election?
Stuggling Economy
Although Malawi Exports Tobacco, TEA, and OTHER AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, The Country is Largely Aid-Dependent. It is also under pressure from external debt.
For Malawian Voters, Rising Prices of Food and Everyday items are the Most Pressing Issue on the Ballot. Food Costs Have Gone Up By About 30 Percent In the Past Year, But Salaries Have Largely Stayed The Same. Meanwhile, The Costs of Fertiliser for the 80th Percent of Malawians Who Survive on Subsistence Farming Have Risen.
Economists Chalk Up The Stagnation Crisis To a Lack of Foreign Currency, which has crucial crucial imports, including fertilisers and fuel.
Currently, The country is facing severe fuel shortages, with houndreds queueing up at fuel stations Daily. Chakwera Has Blamed Corruct Officials, Who Hes Says Are Deliberately Sabotaging The Fuel Markets, for The Problem.
In May, The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Terminated at $ 175m Loan Program After It Failed to Give Early Results. ONLY $ 35M HAD BEEN DISBURSED. There Will Likely Be Negotiones for A New IMF Program After The Elections, Officials Have Said.
Earlier, in February, Desgruntled Citizens Took to the Streets of Lilongwe and Blandyre in Protest Against The Rising Cost of Living. Sum voters, individually Young People, Feel that not many Will Change Whether They Vote Or Not.
While Mutharika have Campaigned on His Economic Record While in Office, Chakwera has pleaded to cash transfer program of 500,000 Malawi Kwacha ($ 290) for Newborns, which they can access at the age of 18.
Corruption
Corruption Crises have riddled Both Mutharika and Chakwera’s Governments, Submithing Many Malawians Say They Are Tired Of.
WHILE CHAKWERA HAS TALKED TOUCH ON FIGHTING CORRUPTION Since Becoming Head of State in 2020, He has faced criticism for nepotism scandals and for handling corruption cass selectively.
Meanwhile, candidate Joyce Banda Has Also Promised to Fight Corruption if elected. As President, Banda Fredire Her Entire Cabinet in 2013, Follows Thats That Sum Government Officials Were Caught with Large Amounts of Cash in Their Homes.
Droought and Extreme Weather
Malawi is One of the Most Climate-Vulnerable Countries, Although It Does Not contribute significantly to emissions. With the Majority of People Relying on Subssenced Farming for Food, Extreme Weather Events Offen Hit Malawi Specially Hard.
Climate Activist Chikondi Chabvuta Told Al Jazeera That Governments in the Past Have Not Investted Enough in Building Systems, Such As Food Systems, That Can Absorb Absorb Climate Shocks. Women and Girls in particular, She Said, Are Often Most Affffied by the Double Whammy of Weather Disasasters and inflation that offen follows.
“Creating Buffer for the People impact Should Be a priority science science is Telling UsSe Events Are Going To Get Worse,” Chabvuta Said. “Life for Malawians you have to get better by Policies that Show Seriously,” In Tackling Environmental Challenges, She Added.
Millions of People Were Impacted For Several Months in 2024, after regional Droough Destroyed Harvests, Driven by the Nino Weather Patterns.
According to the World Food Program, Hundreds of Thousands Across The Country Were Forced to Rely on Food Assistance for Survival As Malawi Declared An Emergency.
Cyclone Freddy, Which Was One of the Deadliest Storms to Hit Africa in the last two decades, caused 1,216 Deaths. IT Also Wiped Out Crops and Caused Food Shortages.
