Lazarus chakwera
Malawi imposes first lockdown measures as virus flares
To date, Malawi has recorded just 12,470 coronavirus cases and 314 deaths for a population of over 18 million.
Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said that there's no indication with government's movement control system of the Bushiris leaving South Africa through any of the country’s borders.
Malawi has had diplomatic ties with the Jewish state since 1964 but without opening an embassy.
Lazarus Chakwera, 65, comfortably beat Peter Mutharika with 58.5% of the vote, marking the first time in African history that an election re-run led to the defeat of an incumbent.
Chakwera was sworn in last Sunday for a five-year term, hours after unseating Peter Mutharika in a re-run election, and this Monday the country is holding a formal celebration.
This after President Lazarus Chakwera was sworn in following last week’s re-run election in which he unseated Peter Mutharika.
It was a dramatic reversal of fortune for the incumbent Peter Mutharika, whose victory in a May 2019 ballot was overturned by the Constitutional Court over fraud allegations.
The governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) called Friday on the electoral commission to annul results collated so far and declare a third poll as it questioned the credibility of the vote re-run.
A win for Lazarus Chakwera would be a dramatic reversal of last year’s discredited result handing the presidency back to the incumbent, who has been in power since 2014.
The vote on Tuesday came to be regarded as a test of the ability of African courts to fight ballot fraud since Malawi’s judiciary infuriated President Peter Mutharika in February by overturning the result of last year’s vote.
If Lazarus Chakwera does win, it would mean a dramatic reversal of the previous discredited result that handed the presidency to President Peter Mutharika.
Tuesday's election is practically a two-horse race between the president and his main rival Lazarus Chakwera, who lost the May 2019 election by 159,000 votes.
President Peter Mutharika will square off against the main opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera who challenged his victory, after coming a close second to Mutharika with 35% of the ballots cast in the last polling.
The southern African country made history in February when its top court overturned last year's vote and called for fresh polls, citing widespread irregularities.
Lazarus Chakwera lost the election by just 159,000 votes to incumbent Peter Mutharika, who was hurriedly sworn into office the day after the delayed result was issued on Monday.
The most prominent complaint was that figures on result sheets had been altered by correction fluid, incidences the electoral body said were widespread across the country.
Peter Mutharika faces tough competition from his vice president Saulos Chilima and Lazarus Chakwera, who has been endorsed by former president Joyce Banda.
Joyce Banda, who served as president between 2012 and 2014 and was accused of abuse of office and money laundering during her term, had been set to run for the role again in elections in May.
A crowd celebrated outside the tally centre in Blantyre as Mutharika was announced President.