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Malawi has just completed a difficult and protracted transition in which opposition candidate, Rev. Dr. Lazarus Chakwera, was declared winner after beating incumbent, Peter Mutharika, in a presidential election rerun. Chakwera was sworn in immediately after being declared president.

The protracted election period tested the institutions of that country to the limit, but they withstood the test, and came through for Malawi big time.

Malawi now has a new lease of life. President Chakwera must not let the people of Malawi, and Africa, down.

Malawi held a controversial election in May 2019, in which President Peter Mutharika was declared winner in a close result.

His closest challenger, Chakwera, contested the results in the Constitutional Court. 

The Constitutional Court listened to the case during a period of high tension in the country in February 2020.

The Constitutional Court then annulled the election on the basis of massive irregularities.

This was only the second time that the election victory of an incumbent has been annulled in Africa. Malawi’s Supreme Court upheld this annulment.

The annulment set the stage for a rerun between President Mutharika and his closest challenger, Chakwera.

The Electoral Commission, under a new chairman, High Court Judge, Chifundo Kachale, conducted a new election, in which Chakwera was declared the winner with an emphatic  59 per cent of the vote, and was sworn in the next day.

Justice Jane Ansah, who presided over the controversial election last year, resigned on the eve of the rerun due to public pressure.

This has allowed Malawi to move on as a new, confident and hopeful country, with a Government holding a wide mandate from the people.

What are the takeaways from Malawi’s transition?

Firstly, it is clear that Africa’s courts are becoming increasingly emboldened to protect democracy and reject rigged elections.

This augurs well for a continent that usually lacks institutions that enjoy public trust in arbitrating electoral disputes.

Secondly, leaders need to do the right thing by their people. Mutharika was widely seen as having misgoverned Malawi. The people of that country gave him a harsh verdict at the ballot box.

The people of Africa are now more enlightened, more demanding of their leaders, and more assertive. Leaders ignore this dynamic at their own peril.

Third, African institutions are now flexing their constitutional muscle. Malawi’s Constitutional Court, despite coming under tremendous pressure, refused to be coerced into sanitizing a bad election.

The Electoral Commission that conducted the rerun rendered an election that was seen as free, fair, and credible.

Fourth, the armed forces are a critical entity in securing the sovereignty and integrity of a nation against the worst instincts of politicians.

When Mutharika was declared victor in May 2019, protests broke out, some degenerating into clashes between the police and protestors. 

The commander of the Malawi Defence Forces, Gen. Vincent Nundwe, deployed soldiers to maintain peace, and protect protestors.

The army stayed neutral and only acted to protect the constitutional order from any subversion, giving room to the requisite constitutional institutions to do their work. 

Africa does have people of integrity, people who believe in the continent, and are ready to do the right thing by their mandate, and not pander to incumbency.

In Malawi’s case, the judges of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court, the head of the Electoral Commission, Justice Kachale, and General Nundwe, have demonstrated that Africa has the people it needs to move it from its bad past plagued by cronyism, lack of professionalism, sycophancy, and political influence in every major decision. 

And finally, African politicians, especially those who lose elections, must become champions of peace.Chakwera has lost two elections before in which he became second.

As violence loomed especially after the controversial election last year, Chakwera decided to advocate for peace, and went around the country campaigning against violence. — [email protected]