SANF 25 no 22 by Clarkson Mambo
Malawi registers a milestone in the country’s democratic journey on 16 September 2025 when voters go to the polls to choose their president, parliamentary and local government representatives.
The incumbent president, two former presidents and 17 other hopefuls make up the list of candidates who are in contention to lead Malawi for the next five years.
This year’s election will see the introduction of a larger parliament and local councils. A reassessment of constituency and ward borders in 2022 led to an increase in parliamentary seats to 229 from 193 in 2019 and wards increased to 509 from 462.
Incumbent President, Dr Lazarus Chakwera, who is the candidate for the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), is seeking re-election for a second and final term.
Two other former presidents, who have each served one term previously, Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika and Dr Joyce Banda, are also vying for the presidency. Prof Mutharika leads the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) while Dr Banda is the leader of the People’s Party (PP).
Dr Banda is the only woman candidate for president. Some of the other candidates include David Mbewe, who leads the Liberation for Economic Freedom Party, Jordan Sauti of the Patriotic Citizens Party, Kamuzu Chimambo of the People’s Transformation Party.
Out of the 20 presidential candidates, 13 are representing parties, while seven are independent.
The presidential election is attracting special attention following the historic events of the last election in 2019 that resulted in the Constitutional Court in Malawi nullifying the presidential election results.
The then President, Prof Mutharika had been declared the winner, but the opposition led by Dr Chakwera challenged the result, which the courts overturned due to irregularities that were deemed to have affected the outcome. This led to fresh elections a year later, which were won by current president, Dr Chakwera.
In parliament however, Prof Mutharika’s DPP had the highest representation with 32.8 percent of the seats, followed by independent candidates at 29.6 percent, the MCP at 28.5 percent while other smaller parties had the remainder.
Malawi’s electoral laws stipulate that a candidate must have attained the age of 35 years to run for the presidency and at least 21 years to be voted as a candidate for parliament or a councillor. To be able to vote, however, one needs to have attained the age of 18.
The campaign period for the polls opened on 14 July 2025 and will close on 14 September, allowing political parties and candidates ample time to canvass for support.
The main issue in the campaign is the performance of the economy and the rising cost of living.
The current government says the elections give Malawians an opportunity to vote for a “steady and focused leadership” that will take the country forward.
The opposition parties are promising economic stability, growth and job creation as well as reducing the prices of goods and services.
The nomination of candidates for the presidential, parliamentary and local government elections closed on 31 July 2025.
To encourage the participation of women in the parliamentary and local government polls, the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) halved the nomination fees compared to the 2,500,000 kwacha (approximately US$1,440) which their male counterparts paid.
This special fee also applies to youth below a specific age, as well as people living with disabilities, and other specially designated groups.
The Commission is running the polls under the theme, “Promoting democratic leadership through your vote”.
The MEC chairperson, Justice Annabel Mtalimanja says the theme is a call for every Malawian who is eligible to vote to “take up our individual responsibility to help advance the democracy of our nation through voting.”
In preparation for the polls, the MEC held a fresh voter registration exercise between October and December 2024, and a preliminary number of 7.2 million people registered as voters. This is up from 6.8 million in the elections held in 2019.
As part of the MEC’s commitment to transparency, openness, and electoral best practice, consultations have been held with the SADC Electoral Advisory Council (SEAC) and the Electoral Commissions Forum of SADC Countries (ECF-SADC), as well as the SADC Election Observer Mission (SEOM) and other pre-election observer missions.
The SEAC’s mission is to advise SADC Member States on matters pertaining to elections, democracy, and good governance, as envisaged in the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.
The ECF-SADC is a forum of National Election Commissions that seeks to support its members in the establishment of independent and impartial electoral commissions in the region, and the development and promotion of a democratic culture in an environment conducive to the holding of fair and credible elections. sardc.net