LILONGWE, Malawi — President Lazarus Chakwera on Monday stormed through the capital with the energy of a man half his age, promising a modern city and a better Malawi, while his main rival, former president Peter Mutharika, remained largely absent from the campaign trail.
Posting on his official Facebook page just two hours ago, Chakwera declared:
“Today, I had the privilege of engaging residents of constituencies in the City of Lilongwe, carrying with me a pledge of a better Malawi as outlined in our manifesto.
The capital city has become the centre of some of my administration’s flagship projects and programmes. This we have done to transform the city into a modern metropolis.”
The president pointed to a string of flagship developments: new roads, sports facilities, modern housing, expanded water and electricity connections, and NEEF loans to fuel small business growth. He vowed to transform the youth fund into a full-fledged bank to unlock real wealth creation for ordinary Malawians.
With the election just three weeks away, Chakwera urged Malawians to “vote in large numbers, promote peace, and stand firm in building a Lilongwe that reaches international standards while ensuring development also touches every community.”
Analysts say the message is simple but powerful: Chakwera is everywhere, unstoppable, and speaking directly to people’s hopes, while Mutharika — now 84 — is fading from the political stage. “It is like watching a man running with a fresh wind at his back against someone dragging his feet in the sand,” one political observer in Lilongwe said.
The symbolism is hard to miss. Chakwera rises each day like a farmer in the rainy season — sowing promises, watering projects, harvesting crowds. Mutharika, meanwhile, has been mocked for spending more time inside his Page House than among the voters he hopes to court. His rare public appearances are seen as too little, too late.
In Malawi, the proverb goes: “You cannot harvest where you did not plant.” Chakwera has planted across the central region and sealed it tight. His allies in the north, led by Vitumbiko Mumba, have already ringfenced Karonga, Chitipa, and Nkhatabay. With Lilongwe electrified and the north consolidated, Mutharika’s path narrows to a dead end.
For Chakwera, the campaign feels less like a struggle and more like a march to inevitable victory. “Game iyiyi ndi wadya ntoliro,” he has told supporters — a vow to fight until the last whistle. For Mutharika, critics say, the final whistle has already blown.
