Lazarus Chakwera is officially the new president of Malawi. Located in southeastern Africa, the country has a famously friendly population. It has given rise to the nickname 'The Warm Heart of Africa'.
Friendly or not, the country had recently been in serious turmoil over a presidential election. So much so, a new election had to take place. Unlike the previous one, the most recent election has apparently produced a clear result.
Inauguration held on Sunday
Malawi's new president is Lazarus Chakwera. Chakwera had previously been the leader of the opposition in the country's National Assembly.
He is a member and the leader of the Malawi Congress Party.
Chakwera is a native of Lilongwe, which is now Malawi's capital and its most populated city. In 1977, he received a bachelor's degree from the University of Malawi in Philosophy. He later earned an honors degree from what is now the University of Limpopo in South Africa. Chakwera had studied theology there. In 1991, he obtained a master's degree from the University of South Africa. Eventually, Chakwere received a Doctor of Ministry degree from Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois.
For almost 15 years, Chakwera presided over the Malawi Assemblies of God. He also taught and served as the principal with the Assemblies of God School of Theology.
In addition, he has been a professor at the Pan-Africa Theological Seminary.
Election results from 2019 were annulled
In May of 2019, presidential election results showed that incumbent Peter Mutharika had won. It was the second consecutive time that Chakwera and Mutharika had faced off for the Presidency.
But apparently not all was as it seemed.
Widespread reports of irregularities and tampering emerged. Protestors made their displeasure known. The 2019 contest became coined as the so-called 'Tipp-Ex elections'. The name comes from a brand of white-out that is popular in Europe. Supposedly, Tipp-Ex was used by wrongdoers to tamper with ballots.
In 2020, the Constitutional Court of Malawi annulled the election results.
A new one would have to be held. The BBC reports that it's the second time such a thing has happened in Africa. The first time happened in 2017 in Kenya. Uhuru Kenyatta emerged victorious in both elections.
It was a different story in Malawi. In the new election, Chakwera won in a landslide. He is leading many in Malawi to celebrate the results. ABC reports that the Malawi Human Rights Commission has endorsed the second election as legitimate. Mutharika's Democratic Progressive Party disagree, calling for a third election. Although he personally did not do so.
