Just hours after being disqualified from the 2025 presidential race by the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), David Mbewe, President of the Liberation Economic Freedom Party (LEFP), has entered into a political alliance with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
The DPP, through Secretary General Peter Mukhito, confirmed the development in a Facebook post:
“We are pleased to announce that Dr. David Mbewe, President of the Liberation for Economic Freedom (LEF), has gone into an electoral alliance with the Mighty Democratic Progressive Party (DPP),” announced DPP.
Before settling on his own party, Mbewe was initially affiliated with the DPP, with reports at the time suggesting he had intentions to contest for the party’s presidency. However, in 2022, the founder of the Living Word Evangelical Church left the DPP and briefly joined the People’s Party (PP).
He later dumped the PP as well and eventually settled for LEFP. When submitting his nomination papers for the 2025 presidential race last month, Mbewe named Edward Kambanje as his running mate.
However, on Wednesday, MEC disqualified Mbewe and two other aspirants for failing to meet certain eligibility requirements for the presidency.
Meanwhile, Mbewe’s LEFP becomes the second party to join forces with the DPP ahead of the 2025 general elections, following the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD) whose leader Enock Chihana has been earmarked for the position of Second Vice President should the coalition win the September 16 polls.
