Mr Mutharika, 78, campaigned for a second five-year term on his record of improving Malawi's scant road and power infrastructure. Malawi has a "winner-takes-all" system and in 2014 Mr Mutharika won with just 36 percent of the vote. At his final campaign rally last weekend, Mr Mutharika told supporters in Blantyre: "My priorities for this country are development and building skills." Former evangelist Chakwera, 64, came second to Mr Mutharika in the 2014 polls. Malawi won independence from colonial ruler Britain in 1964, and was then ruled by Hastings Banda as a one-party state until the first multi-party elections in 1994.

Source: Daily Nation May 23, 2019 14:37 UTC