Vote counting underway in Malawi

POLLS have closed in Malawi’s hotly contested presidential vote, the second time in just over a year, after incumbent President Peter Mutharika’s re-election was annulled by the courts over irregularities.

Some 6,8 million people were eligible to vote in Tuesday’s rerun, practically a two-horse race between Mutharika and opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera. A third candidate, Peter Kuwani, was also in the running.

The election is much anticipated after the Constitutional Court in early February ruled that the May 2019 vote was fraught with “grave and widespread irregularities”, including the use of correction fluid on results sheets. It ordered new elections be held within 150 days of its February ruling.

Mutharika slammed the verdict as a “serious miscarriage of justice” and, along with the electoral commission, filed an appeal. But on May 8, the Supreme Court upheld the earlier ruling, setting the stage for Malawians to return to the polls again.

On Tuesday, there was a big turnout in the cities of Blantyre, Lilongwe, Mzuzu and Zomba, with some voters arriving an hour before polling stations opened at 6am.

“I am happy because this rerun is the will of the people. And with this vote, I just hope that the best person wins. The will of the people will triumph,” said Peter Chadza (26), a businessman who arrived at a polling station in Lilongwe an hour and a half before voting was due to start.

Voting proceeded without major incident, although regional police spokesperson Williams Kaponda said 20 people had been arrested on Monday night after being found with a fake ballot box stuffed with pre-marked ballot sheets. —