What an election, what a campaign!

That this is the most closely contested election Malawi has ever had could be the understatement of the year.

For a start, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) wants to wrestle back power it believes was grabbed from it by a then estranged Vice-President Joyce Banda after the death of her boss, president Bingu wa Mutharika, with whom she had fallen out.

Banda—after  she was systematically kicked out of DPP where she was seen as a threat to the presidential ambitions of Mutharika’s younger brother, Peter—formed her own People’s Party (PP).

PP eventually became the ruling party much to the chagrin of DPP, which had the governing mandate after the 2009 landslide victory with the late Mutharika at the helm. Thus, there is no love lost between the two parties. It is Tom and Jerry, really!

Then there is United Democratic Front’s (UDF) Atupele Muluzi—the young and charismatic presidential contender who has energised the youth and has shown that he is capable of pulling off an upset. Those who undermine Atupele may do so at their own peril.

Malawi Congress Party’s (MCP) Lazarus Chakwera is the new face among the top four and his ‘outsider’ image bolsters his chances as Malawians—let down for too long by career politicians who have gamed them for almost half a century—maybe looking for a clean break from the past in search of something fresh. He, too, has a decent chance.

So, yes, this has been a dynamic race towards the May 2014 Tripartite Elections goal posts with a lot of new ways of doing things.

For the first time in the country’s history, we had presidential debates—three at vice-presidential candidate level and another three debates at presidential level.

While the jury is still out there on the impact of the debates in terms of convincing voters, there is no doubt that Malawians appreciated the battle of ideas that any campaign is supposed to be rather than the personal attack theatre that was the hallmark of the brand of politics in the Bakili Muluzi and Bingu wa Mutharika eras.

It also has to be said that this election has given us what is arguably the most open, transparent and accountable Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) team. MEC chairperson Justice Maxon Mbendera deserves special praise for his efforts to level the playing field.

Sure, problems have been there, including the voters’ roll mess in which several names missed or had wrong details, the acute shortage of vehicles for managing the elections and the poor handling of the controversy over the sourcing of some election related equipment from Zimbabwe.

Most of these problems have been managed fairly well and, on balance, MEC has endeavoured to conduct itself professionally.

Indeed, my position on MEC was last week reinforced by the Afrobarometer poll, which found that a majority of Malawians are confident in the capabilities and neutrality of the commission.

According to the poll—released last week—55 percent of Malawians think MEC is ‘very well prepared’ for the upcoming election; 20 percent think it is ‘at least somewhat prepared’ and just 16 percent think it is ‘not at all’ or ‘not very well’ prepared.

On how much Malawians trust MEC, 57 percent said they trust the commission ‘somewhat’ or ‘a lot’ in 2014.

In addition, nearly two-thirds (63 percent) believe the commission “performs its duties as a neutral body guided only by law”, an increase from 56 percent of Malawians who said the same about MEC in 2012.

Now, these are no mean achievements and the commission needs to be congratulated for improving its image.

There has also been a lot of drama during the election season, the latest being DPP welcoming its troubled and troubling son, Vice-President Khumbo Kachali who it had booted out and he went on to join President Banda’s PP who rewarded him with the vice-presidency.

With less than10 days before elections, Kachali resigned from PP only to claim now that he only quit as an executive member, but he remains an ordinary party cadre. Of course, he has realised that based on Section 65 of the Constitution on crossing the floor, his seat—should he win it—maybe declared vacant.

If this is not confusion on Kachali’s part, I don’t know what is. I mean, this fellow was seen in Mzimba among the Blue Team where he was seen parroting its slogan, denouncing his supposed party and telling everyone who cared to listen to vote for DPP leader Peter Mutharika instead of drumming up support for PP candidate President Banda.

Now, if you do not believe in the leadership of the party you claim to belong to and represent, why remain in the grouping?

Kachali has demonstrated that he is an opportunist who should never ever be allowed into any position of authority.

Having moved from UDF to DPP, to PP then back to DPP, Kachali has come full circle as a mbatata politician, to use the magic analogy of Abusa Helen Singh.

After May 20, I doubt that any party will have much use for Kachali because, like the proverbial mbatata, he overexerted himself and has just managed to break himself in half.

Otherwise, it has been a very exciting political calendar whose climax will not be decided by the whistle stop tours at trading centres or skewed opinion polls, but rather by real outreach to rural areas where the bulk of the voters come from.

I wish everyone free, fair, peaceful and decisive voting.