Former Assemblies of God official captures Malawi presidency

Twice Lazurus Chakwera ran for president in Malawi and twice he lost badly to then-incumbent Peter Mutharika. In his third attempt, Lazurus, not unlike his biblical namesake, resurrected his political fortunes and was sworn in as president of Malawi June 28, 2020.

Lazurus Chakwera (left) was sworn into the presidency of Malawi on June 28. Photo by Nkonde Mulenga/Creative Commons.

As accolades for the feat poured in from all over the world, Chakwera declared at his inauguration: "I am duty bound by God and all of you to give you my best." Apart from a senior leadership role in the Assembly of God as bishop, he was a sought-after theology professor supervising PhD candidates as far as Kenya and other African countries.

This is the culmination of a long journey for Chakwera. He first ran for president in 2014 but was defeated by Mutharika. He took his seat as a member of parliament with an eye on the next opportunity to run. He did so last year and narrowly lost to Mutharika by some 159,000 votes.

Chakwera charged that the election had been rigged in favor of the sitting president and challenged the results before the High Court. The judges agreed with him and ordered new elections. Mutharika took his battle to the Supreme Court seeking a repeal the High Court ruling. His petition was denied and new elections were held this year, with Chakwera winning.

This marked only the second time in Sub-Saharan Africa that a court annulled the result of a presidential election. Kenya’s opposition leader Raila Odinga went to the Supreme Court after losing the 2017 elections to President Uhuru Kenyatta. The Court agreed with Odinga that the elections were flawed and ordered a repeat. However, Odinga, citing a biased electoral body, boycotted the vote, which Kenyatta won.

Odinga was one of the first political figures to send a congratulatory message to Chakwera:

“I congratulate the people of Malawi on the successful and peaceful presidential election and incoming President Lazarus Chakwera on his impressive victory. I commend the outgoing President Peter Mutharika for creating the environment for a peaceful and orderly transfer of power.”

Joining the chorus of congratulations were Kenyan pastors who expressed confidence that Chakwera has what it takes to move Malawi forward.

“Thinking about Malawi, the Malawians have spoken clearly and loudly,” said Leo Kinuthia, a pastor with the International Christian Centre Nairobi, a Kenyan Assemblies of God Church. “A nation can pick from its citizenry the leader they desire to have. The biggest heritage Dr. Chakwera has is God. Against the big names of the Mutharikas and (former president Bakili) Muluzis, he has triumphed. What a lesson. Your excellency, Dr. Chakwera, may your leadership bring hope and prosperity in Malawi. May Africa learn from you what it means to lead with a servant's heart.”

Echoing these sentiments was Rev. Edward Munene who heads the International Christian Center in Mombasa who said:

“I met Rev. Dr Lazarus Chakwera at a consultative forum where we were discussing how to reach Africa with the Gospel message. I loved his sermon and the challenge he gave us to lay down our lives for the sake of transforming the continent. He was the General Superintendent (Bishop) of the Malawi Assemblies of God at that time. His humility and wisdom inspired me greatly.

“Today, he stepped into a new role as the President of Malawi. I am so excited to see him stepping into this new role and I commit to pray for him. I believe he will lead this nation as a leader of integrity, leading with wisdom and the humility to take Malawi forward. He is a focused, wise, eloquent and Godly man and I believe he will serve well.”

Analysts are putting forward key reasons that Chakwera was able to surmount so many obstacles to win the presidency. First and foremost, many observers agreed that Malawians had gotten tired of the misrule and rampant corruption that had their country wallowing in poverty.

The country has been struggling to fight poverty and corruption. It ranks 123rd out of 189 on the Corruption Perceptions Index and 172nd on the Human Development Index, which analyses inequality.

Unlike the case in Kenya—where Odinga sat out the revote, lamenting a biased electoral body—protestors in Malawi demanded a change in the country’s electoral body, a wish they were granted.

A little noted but major player in the Malawi elections were the country’s armed forces. As more and more Malawians took to the streets protesting the rigged polls, the army provided them with security—a luxury denied contemporaries in other parts of Africa where the military serves at the whims of the commander-in-chief.

After last year’s election results were annulled, the army moved fast, offering protection to Chakwera which was beefed up in the run-up to the revote. The military’s role made Mutharika fire the army chief, Gen. Vincent Nundwe. In his defense, the former army boss said: “I have served Malawians well. I don't regret that."

Paul Tiyambe Zeleza, a Malawian historian who serves as Vice Chancellor at the Nairobi-based United States International University- Africa wrote in a recent Op-Ed:

“The professionalism of the military is a critical factor in Malawi’s remarkable electoral transition. Since independence and at crucial moments, they have consistently maintained loyalty to the Constitution, not the president as commander-in-chief. They did so in 1992 during the referendum on multi-party democracy and in the subsequent two years. Similarly, in 2012, they facilitated the ascendancy of estranged Vice President Joyce Banda when a cabal, led by President Peter Mutharika, were planning an unconstitutional takeover.

“From  the annulment of the 2019 election to the rerun, they provided security for peaceful protests. And the moment it became clear that Dr Chakwera was the incoming president, they beefed up state security for him.”

For his part, Adem K. Abebe, Extraordinary Lecturer at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, said:

“Chakwera has his work cut out. He leads a party which was at the forefront of the country’s fight for independence from Britain and went on to rule during the 27-year dictatorship of Hastings Banda. This was ended by the country’s first multi-party elections in 1994. For the rerun he formed an alliance with Saulos Chilima, the former vice-president. Chilima will now serve as Chakwera’s deputy. Chakwera will need to build consensus to ensure that the new electoral laws don’t worsen tensions in the country. And he will need to forge a new kind of politics that balances cooperation with competition.”

Tom Osanjo is a Nairobi-based correspondent for Religion Unplugged. He is a former parliamentary reporter and has covered sports, politics and more at Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper.