By Edwin Mauluka
Two days after Malawians cast their votes, impatience is rising but the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) is urging voters and political parties to be patient.
MEC Chairperson Justice Anabel Mtalimanja on Wednesday said the apparent delay is due to tabulation and transmission challenges, as results are funneled to the National Tally Centre in Lilongwe before being made public. However, she didn’t go into details about the challenges.
The MEC boss stressed that MEC is still operating within its legal mandate.
“The Commission shall announce the presidential results within eight days, parliamentary results within fourteen days, and local government results within twenty-one days from the close of polling,” Mtalimanja told reporters.
The law, she explained, gives MEC time to verify, audit, and authenticate results before they are declared official.
Mtalimanja also warned political parties against self-declarations of victory and against threatening MEC, saying such behavior risks inciting violence.
Her remarks came after Malawi Congress Party (MCP) spokesperson Jessie Kabwira claimed President Lazarus Chakwera was leading in the count and said the party was already organizing a swearing-in ceremony and victory celebrations.
“We have no doubt that we are winning these elections,” Kabwira told reporters at MCP headquarters in Lilongwe.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the main challenger, quickly hit back. DPP National Organising Secretary Sameer Suleman reminded MCP that only MEC has authority to declare results. DPP Central Region Vice President Alfred Gangata echoed the point and praised the Malawi Defense Force (MDF) for detaining one of three men who stormed a counting centre armed with pangas. The two accomplices escaped.
The Malawi Law Society (MLS) also weighed in, siding with MEC’s appeal for patience. Invoking its mandate under Section 64(d) of the Legal Education and Legal Practitioners Act to protect matters of public interest, MLS urged political leaders and media outlets to act responsibly.
“Every candidate and political party solemnly undertook to acknowledge the Commission’s authority and to refrain from any action that could interfere with its independence or impartiality,” MLS said in a statement signed by its chair, Davis Njobvu.
“Without infringing on freedoms of expression and the media, all leaders and media houses are strongly advised to refrain from utterances that could disturb public order or be interpreted as implying a definitive victory.”
Impatience with MEC may stem from the previous election, when it initially declared Mutharika and the DPP as winners. A court challenge by the opposition led to a court-ordered rerun of the presidential vote, which ended Mutharika’s bid for a second term and ushered in a coalition government with Chakwera as president and Saulos Chilima as vice president.
On September 16, Malawians voted for president, members of parliament, and ward councillors under the weight of a struggling economy marked by hunger, fuel shortages, lack of foreign exchange, high youth unemployment, and soaring commodity prices.
This year’s election has been one of the most contested in Malawi’s history, with 17 presidential candidates, including incumbent Chakwera, his predecessor Peter Mutharika of the DPP, incumbent Vice President Michael Usi of the OZAM party, and former President Joyce Banda of the People’s Party. In total, 1,474 parliamentary aspirants competed across 15,148 polling stations.
According to MEC figures, voter turnout stood at 64 percent — about 4.6 million ballots cast out of 7.2 million registered voters. Women accounted for 57 percent of the turnout, while men made up 43 percent. District-level turnout was led by Likoma at 79 percent, followed by Chiradzulu at 77 percent and Phalombe at 76.5 percent.
As counting continues, unofficial tallies circulating on social media and other platforms suggest a tight contest between Chakwera’s MCP and Mutharika’s DPP. MEC has urged Malawians to ignore unverified numbers and wait for official results.
