In 2020, Malawians rejected a sitting president in a court-sanctioned election, with then opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera winning 60 percent of the vote.
The Tonse Alliance victor rose amid public yearning for transformative leadership, integrity and accountability—and he promised a better Malawi for everyone.
Five years on, this is one of the greatest political betrayals in Malawi’s history.
Chakwera was detached, indecisive and unwilling to act when needed.
Two weeks ago, Malawians voted him out amid rising cost of living and corruption.
Chakwera’s apathetic leadership is well documented, including the humiliation of Anti-Corruption Bureau chief Martha Chizuma, who was arrested before daybreak like a hardcore criminal.
Instead of defending her from this assault on patriotism and integrity, Chakwera did not hold her attackers to account—reducing Chizuma to a figurehead at ACB.
Chakwera also kept mum on the bizarre procurement of fertiliser from a butchery and a pharmacy, a scandal which reflected gross incompetence and well-organised fraud.
No one was sacked or reprimanded despite deafening calls for action.
He also neglected the brains behind the embarrassing unveiling of $6.8 billion investment by Bridgin Foundation, yet it was all smoke and mirrors.
No official faced consequences.
Chakwera’s indifference sabotaged several State-funded inquiries into matters of national concern.
The ignored findings include inquiries into financial mismanagement in public service and the military plane crash which killed vice-president Saulos Chilima and eight others.
The findings were shelved, recommendations ignored, suspected individuals protected and no decisive action taken.
When activists, lawyers and concerned Malawians rang the alarm bells about corruption in the Judiciary, Chakwera sealed his lips
Yet the Pentecostal pastor promised to end corruption and punish anyone who steals a tambala from the public coffers.
Strangely, he kept mum when Cabinet ministers, his aides and senior bureaucrats were implicated in kickbacks.
As the public outcry surged, his family members, allies and inner circle got richer overnight. No heads rolled. No arrests. No resignations.
He also tolerated nepotism, tribalism and impunity, which led to his predecessor Peter Mutharika’s downfall.
From filling strategic positions with relatives and friends to favouring individuals from his tribal and religious leanings, his staffing decisions betrayed his promise to appoint people on merit. He adamantly redefined merit to justify the hiring of power couples and elite family members in his first Cabinet.
The sudden death of Chilima amid questions over Chakwera’s leadership style and economic governance further outraged the nation.
One of Malawi’s darkest tragedies, the June 10 2024 plane crash left the nation in mourning.
However, Chakwera took four hours before triggering on-off search and rescue efforts.
No one has been held to account for the gaps exposed by his commission of inquiry into the emergency. Instead, he blamed it all on the deceased, absolving those tasked to ensure safety. People who authorised the neglected plane, which was no longer fit to fly, went scot-free.
Such indecisiveness exposed Chakwera to bad counsel.
This year, he embarrassed himself in Parliament where he gave a State of the Nation Address fraught with achievements that were either non-existent or are work in progress.
Fact-checks disputed about 80 percent of the ‘successful projects’ he bragged about, but he neither apologised nor retracted the claims. Instead, he blamed it on unknowns he could not name or discipline to deter would-be offenders.
This detached globetrotter thrilled the nation with sermons, all those eloquent speeches seldom matched with action.
He failed to make bold decisions when required to act tough.
He was reluctant to sack corrupt elites, but eager to shield them and pardon those convicted of abuse of power.
Tolerated self-enrichment bred anarchy in his Malawi Congress Party (MCP), where ministers spent millions to get seats on its politburo.
Today, the party is fragmented, disillusioned and out of power.
MCP went to the polls solo, shunned by possible partners opposed to how it mistreated its Tonse allies.
Chakwera’s ejection completes a tale of missed opportunities and unwillingness to reform.
The comeback of Mutharika, 85, speaks volumes of how the outgoing leader failed Malawians who wanted change and institutions he was supposed to strengthen. Malawi deserves better.
