Mutharika sworn in as 7th President of Malawi

Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika and Justice Dr. Jane Ansah Supreme Court Judge retired, have been sworn in as President and Vice President of Malawi respectively.

Professor Mutharika becomes Malawi’s 7th president.

He returns to the presidency after mounting a campaign, having served the country in the same position from 2014 to 2020.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ansah is a seasoned legal expert, having served highest positions in Malawi’s judicial system.

She is Malawi’s first female Attorney General, Supreme Court Justice and is a former chairperson of the Malawi Electoral Commission.

She becomes the second woman in Malawi to hold such a position after Dr. Joyce Banda who later became Malawi’s fourth president.

Mutharika, a former President was recently re-elected with a landslide getting 56.8 percent of votes.

The then incumbent Lazarus Chakwera took 33 percent of ballots cast on September 16, as reported by the Malawi Electoral Commission.

Chakwera conceded defeat to his predecessor Mutharika, 85, in the largely poor Southern African nation, battered by soaring costs and severe fuel shortages.

According to analysts, economic factors contributed to the swing of support to Mutharika.

Malawian citizens are deeply frustrated with persistent cost of living challenges including high inflation, fuel shortages, and a lack of access to foreign currency.

These concerns are exacerbated by a sense of increasing corruption in a country that has struggled to reduce poverty rates.