Malawi's new president Lazarus Chakwera was sworn in for a
five-year term on Sunday, hours after unseating former leader Peter Mutharika
in a re-run election.
Chakwera, 65, won 58.57% of the vote in Tuesday's poll, a
dramatic reversal of the result of the original election in May 2019, which was
later overturned by the courts.
The repeat vote was regarded by analysts as a test of the
ability of African courts to tackle ballot fraud and restrain presidential
power.
"To stand before you as president today is an honour.
It's an honour that fills with unspeakable joy and immense gratitude,"
Chakwera said in his acceptance speech.
"With your help, we will restore a new generation's
faith in the possibility of having a government that serves, not a government
that rules," he told a cheering crowd dressed in the colours of his own
Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the allied party of Vice President Saulos
Chilima.
Mr Chakwera, a Pentecostal preacher and former theology
lecturer, said his role would be to unite and serve Malawians.
"I want to provide leadership that makes everybody
prosper, that deals decisively with corruption and theft of public funds and a
leadership that will follow the rule of law," he told the BBC.
"I do feel like Lazarus, I've come back from the dead,
it's been a long journey and we feel vindicated in a way," he said about
winning the rerun election.
MCP is Malawi's founding party and Chakwera's win brings it
back into power after 26 years in opposition.
The judiciary infuriated Mutharika in February by
overturning the result of the May 2019 election that had given him a second
term, citing irregularities, and ordering a re-run. Mutharika's disputed win
had sparked months of anti-government demonstrations, a rare sight in Malawi.
Mutharika said on Saturday there had been voting
irregularities including violence and intimidation against his party's election
monitors, but his complaint was dismissed by the electoral commission.
Critics had accused Mutharika of doing little to tackle
corruption.
"Curbing corruption is crucial now more than
ever," said Lauryn Nyasulu, president of the Economics Association of
Malawi.
"The government needs to seal all loopholes and use
whatever resources available in efforts to rebuild the economy and safeguard
the welfare of those that have been heavily affected by the Covid-19
pandemic."
Reuters
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