Ofure Akhigbe
Police in Malawi said on Saturday they had arrested eight people for alleged electoral fraud as the country awaits the final results of Tuesday’s general elections.
Inspector General Merlyne Yolamu confirmed that the suspects, employed as data entry clerks, were caught attempting to manipulate vote figures.
The arrests come amid heightened vigilance following the disputed 2019 polls, when the Constitutional Court annulled then President Peter Mutharika’s victory, citing widespread irregularities, including the use of correction fluid on results sheets.
This year, the Malawi Electoral Commission has pledged strict oversight to prevent a repeat of that controversy. Official tallies so far show Mutharika, 85, in the lead for the presidency, with incumbent Lazarus Chakwera, 70, trailing in second place.
Chakwera’s Malawi Congress Party has already lodged a complaint with the commission, alleging irregularities in the count, though no details were provided.
Results from the country’s 36 districts are expected to continue trickling in over the weekend, with final tallies due by Wednesday, September 24, under electoral law. A candidate must secure more than 50% of the vote to win outright, otherwise a run-off will be required.
Malawians also cast their ballots in parliamentary and local elections, held against the backdrop of an economic crisis marked by fuel shortages, lack of foreign currency, and soaring inflation. With inflation at nearly 30%, basic goods such as a frozen chicken now cost around $20 in Lilongwe, in a country where most citizens survive on less than $2 a day.
Mutharika is seeking a dramatic political comeback, while Chakwera is fighting to retain the presidency he won by a wide margin in the 2020 re-run election.