EditorPeter Mutharika, 85, has reclaimed Malawi’s presidency in a dramatic political comeback, vowing to end corruption and restore integrity in public life. Sworn in on Saturday as the country’s seventh president, Mutharika declared that the “honeymoon of looting is over,” promising a new era
of discipline, service, and accountability.
The inauguration, held at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre, the country’s second largest city before thousands of cheering supporters, marked the return of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
to power five years after being ousted. Chief Justice Rizine Mzikamanda administered the oath of office, while Justice Jane Ansah, a former head of the Malawi Electoral Commission, was sworn in as vice president.
Mutharika’s return followed Malawi’s presidential election held on September 16, 2025, which he won decisively with 56.8 percent of the vote, about 3 million
ballots, defeating incumbent Lazarus Chakwera, who secured around 33 percent. The results, announced by the Malawi Electoral Commission on September 24,
gave Mutharika a first-round victory without a runoff.
Chakwera conceded defeat the same day, urging national unity and pledging a peaceful transfer of power. However, he was later dropped from the official
inauguration programme, a move analysts say underscored the DPP’s intent to mark a clean break from the past.
Mutharika previously led Malawi from 2014 to 2020, a tenure that ended after his disputed 2019 re-election was annulled by the Constitutional Court, which
cited widespread irregularities including tampering with tally sheets. A rerun in 2020 handed victory to Chakwera and the Malawi Congress Party, pushing Mutharika and the DPP into opposition.
His comeback through the ballot box now makes him one of the few African leaders to regain power via a competitive election.
“This is both the will of God and the will of the people,” Mutharika said in his inauguration speech. “There is no food. No forex. Businesses are collapsing.
The cost of living is unbearable. Government coffers are empty, and nobody knows where the borrowed money has gone.”
Malawi, a landlocked country of 20 million people, faces an economic storm marked by high inflation, foreign exchange shortages, rising debt, and deepening
food insecurity. Mutharika painted a grim picture of a nation on the brink but insisted the crisis was man-made and reversible.
“Any problem created by humans can be solved by humans,” he said. “Fixing this country will not be easy, but we will fix it. I promise you tough and painful
decisions, but with patience, discipline, and hard work, we will build a country where our children can prosper.”
Mutharika’s message to Malawians was one of reform and responsibility. He pledged to restore fiscal discipline, tackle corruption, and revive investor
confidence by enforcing meritocracy in government appointments.
“The honeymoon of looting is over,” he warned. “This country does not belong to a party or a tribe. It belongs to the people. Government is not a feast.
It is about service, discipline, and hard work.”
The president said his administration’s early focus will be on reviving agriculture, stabilising the energy sector, and implementing strict performance
contracts for cabinet ministers. He also promised to open the country to international investors, saying, “Malawi is now open for business.”
In an apparent appeal for reconciliation, Mutharika thanked faith leaders for what he called their stand “against evil, corruption, and state-sponsored
terror” and urged unity in rebuilding the nation.
Mutharika’s election and peaceful swearing-in have been described as a stress test for Malawi’s democracy, one of the few in southern Africa where power
has regularly changed hands through the ballot box.
Observers say the new administration’s success will hinge on whether it can deliver on its anti-corruption pledges and manage the country’s worsening economic
crisis. The incoming cabinet, expected to be announced in the coming days, will signal whether Mutharika intends to run a broad-based and technocratic
government or revert to old patronage networks.
As the octogenarian leader returns to State House, many Malawians are cautiously hopeful but wary. For now, the promise is clear, and so is the challenge
ahead.
“The spirit that destroys our nation does not come from outside,” Mutharika said in closing. “It comes from among us. But Malawi will rise again.”
