Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera conceded defeat in last week’s election, saying it was clear his rival Peter Mutharika had an “insurmountable lead.”
The provisional results from two-thirds of the country’s districts showed 85-year-old Mutharika, a former president, had won around 66% of the vote. Final results are due to be announced by the country’s electoral commission later today, but Chakwera said he had called Mutharika “to wish him well.”
The incoming president will be charged with turning around a faltering economy, the subject that dominated the election campaign, in a country where more than 70% of the population lives on less than $2.15 a day.