Malawi's main opposition party endorses Peter Mutharika as its flag-bearer

Malawi's main opposition, the Democratic Progress Party, has endorsed former President Peter Mutharika, 84, as its candidate for the 2025 presidential election.

Mutharika, who led the country from 2014 to 2020, pledged to fix the economy, which has struggled with slow growth and currency shortages.

He will face incumbent President Lazarus Chakwera, who is seeking a second term. Mutharika also plans to ally with the United Transformation Movement, though the party has yet to confirm the partnership.

In 2020, Mutharika lost his re-election bid to Lazarus Chakwera, an anti-corruption crusader.

The election was a repeat vote after the country’s top court quashed the results of the May 2019 exercise which gave Mutharika and his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) victory.

In 2021 Mutharika accused the current government of politically prosecuting him.

Malawi’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in August 2020 froze the personal bank accounts of Mutharika and his wife, Gertrude, in a probe seeking to uncover his role in a 5-billion kwacha ($6.6 million) cement scandal.