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Malawi’s newly elected president, Peter Mutharika, was sworn in on Saturday, pledging to tackle widespread corruption and revive the southern African nation’s struggling economy.
The 85-year-old, who previously held the presidency from 2014 to 2020, returned to power with a decisive victory over incumbent Lazarus Chakwera, in an election driven by public frustration over soaring living costs.
Thousands of supporters, dressed in the Democratic Progressive Party’s traditional blue, filled Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre, Malawi’s commercial hub, to witness the ceremony.
“We are back with a new vision and a new agenda,” Mutharika told the cheering crowd. “From today onwards, corruption is gone. If I find you looting the government as an official, I will deal with you. You are now dealing with a different president.”
Malawi has been shaken by a series of multi-million-dollar corruption scandals, undermining public trust in the political elite. The 21-million-strong nation ranks 107th out of 180 on Transparency International’s corruption index.
Recent climate disasters, including a cyclone and regional drought, have devastated crops, driving inflation above 30 per cent and contributing to severe fuel and foreign exchange shortages. During his first term, Mutharika had successfully reduced inflation to single digits.
Nearly three-quarters of Malawians live on less than $3 a day, according to the World Bank.
Mutharika’s political comeback follows a complex electoral history: his 2019 victory over Chakwera was annulled over allegations of vote tampering, and a rerun the following year was won by Chakwera.
The outgoing president, a former pastor, did not attend the inauguration. His party said he had been removed from the programme at short notice, adding that he had “graciously offered” to participate in the handover and that they “deeply respected” the decision.
