The leader of Malawi’s opposition party, Lazarus Chakwera has won the country’s rerun presidential vote, says Malawi’s Electoral Commission.
His victory is a dramatic reversal of the incumbent Mr Peter Mutharika discredited win in a process that has been seen as a triumph for African democracy.
Chakwera secured the required majority, with 58.57% of the vote in Tuesday’s poll, the electoral commission announced late on Saturday.
Last February, Malawi’s constitutional court annulled Mr Mutharika’s victory in the May 2019 election, citing vote tampering.
The country was bitterly divided in the run-up to this week’s election.
Malawi is the second African nation to annul a presidential election over irregularities, after Kenya in 2017 .
According to BBC report, following the official result on Saturday, Mr Chakwera said his victory was “a win for democracy and justice,” adding: “My heart is bubbling with joy.”
His supporters took to the streets of the Malawian capital, Lilongwe, sounding car horns and letting off fireworks.
Mr Chakwera is expected to be sworn in on Sunday.
Observers expects Chakwera on assumption of office as the country’s new leader, to undertake the tasks of healing the nation that has been sharply divided by the election.
