Malawi political commentator Lyson Sibande has described the swearing-in of President Arthur Peter Mutharika as a “missed opportunity for democratic growth”, lamenting the absence of outgoing president Lazarus Chakwera from the ceremony — an act he says could have set a new precedent in the country’s political culture.
Writing in a Facebook post on Saturday, Sibande said that while he did not watch the inauguration, even if he were home, there would have been “nothing worth watching.” According to him, the only thing that could have made the event historic was if Chakwera had attended in person to “embrace defeat and publicly transfer power.”
Sibande argued that Malawi needs leaders willing to break old traditions and lead the nation into new democratic maturity. “Someone must always break tradition and take our democracy from one level of growth to another,” he wrote. He recalled that since the dawn of multiparty democracy in 1994, successive leaders often humiliated or arrested their predecessors — a pattern that only began to change under Mutharika’s first presidency.
“After 1994, Muluzi arrested Kamuzu. Then Bingu arrested Muluzi. Joyce Banda later went for Mutharika,” Sibande explained. “But after 2014, APM spared Joyce Banda despite the Cashgate scandal pointing right at her door. Then Chakwera took office in 2020 and spared APM too.”
Sibande noted that Chakwera’s decision not to prosecute Mutharika marked a rare act of statesmanship. “He could have put Mutharika in handcuffs if he wanted. But he didn’t. He chose peace and respect,” Sibande wrote.
The analyst added that this year’s inauguration could have built upon that legacy by breaking yet another negative tradition — that of outgoing presidents refusing to attend their successor’s swearing-in. Instead, he said, the country witnessed another moment of division rather than unity.
“This was a perfect moment in history to witness the birth of a new era, a new tradition, and new politics,” Sibande reflected. “But that chance was lost — and that is deeply disappointing.”
For Sibande, Chakwera’s attendance would not only have symbolised democratic maturity but would have also reminded Malawians that, regardless of political rivalry, “the presidency is not a personal throne but a national trust passed from one leader to another.”
