Opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera has been sworn in as president of Malawi after winning an election rerun – By Gerald Gekara.
Dr Chakwera, 65 becomes the first African opposition candidate to beat an incumbent after a court overturned a presidential election
In February, Malawi’s constitutional court overuled Mr Mutharika’s victory in the May 2019 election, citing gross electral violations including vote tampering.
This led to a bitter campaign by both sides, in the run up to this week’s election rerun.
He however won against incumbent Peter Mutharika with 58.57% of the vote in Tuesday’s poll, the electoral commission announced late on Saturday.
Kenya was the first country to historically overthrow an election in 2017, but the opposition lost the repeat election.
The unsuccessful candidate, Mr Mutharika, said that while he found the election “unacceptable”, it was his “sincere hope that the country will be led well”
Saulos Chilima, was sworn in as vice-president at Lilongwe, Malawi’s capital city.
