Malawi president, Peter Mutharika, has been re-elected following tight elections in which he beat his closest contender by 158,969 votes.
The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has today declared Mutharika winner of the highly contested presidential elections.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate got 1,940,709 votes representing 38.57 percent while Malawi Congress Party (MCP) presidential candidate Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera amassed 1,781,740 votes representing 35.41 percent.
Former Vice President Dr Saulos Klaus Chilima who was UTM presidential candidate came third with 1,018,369 votes representing 20.24 percent.
MEC chairperson Jane Ansah announced results of the presidential elections in Blantyre, minutes after a court in Lilongwe vacated an injunction which the MCP obtained on Saturday stopping the commission from declaring a winner.
The party was demanding a recount of the votes saying that the elections which were held on Tuesday were marred by irregularities.
However, Ansah said her commission reviewed all the complaints that were lodged and concluded that the polls were free and fair.
“We declare the Presidential Elections to be free and fair and these results are the true reflection of the will of the people of Malawi,” she said.
She then declared Mutharika as the president elect of Malawi and Everton Herbert Chimulirenji as vice-president elect of Malawi.
Mutharika who comes into his second five year term with a new vice president will grapple with old issues such as high unemployment especially among the youth, electricity blackouts, poverty, rampant corruption and poor service delivery.
