The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) has shown its strength by putting forward 219 candidates for Parliament—more than any other party except independents—and already winning one seat without even facing a challenger. This is a clear sign of how deep and organised MCP’s campaign is across the country. Every MCP candidate is also campaigning for President Lazarus Chakwera, giving him more supporters on the ground than any other presidential hopeful.
In comparison, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has 195 candidates, UTM has 169, and Odya Zake Alibe Mulandu only 18. With fewer candidates, these parties have fewer people spreading their message and less reach to voters. It raises a big question: how can their presidential candidates win the whole country when they have far fewer campaigners?
Even more damaging for DPP is that their leader, Arthur Peter Mutharika, is not campaigning. He has only appeared in public twice—once at the BICC and once at Njamba—and both times he looked weak and tired. Most of the campaign work is being left to Jane Ansah. But no presidential candidate wins without campaigning hard across the country.
Meanwhile, Chakwera’s team is full of energy, moving across every region, speaking to crowds, and planting the MCP flag in more places every day. The numbers and the campaign momentum show one thing clearly: Chakwera is ahead, and the opposition is struggling to catch up.
