As elections draw closer, Malawi’s campaign trail is awash with rallies, slogans, and manifestos. But if there is one party that has managed to stay ahead of the curve, it is the ruling Malawi Congress Party (MCP).
From its carefully choreographed manifesto launch at Bingu National Stadium to its calculated choice of running mate, MCP has managed to outsmart its two main challengers—the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the UTM.
At almost every MCP rally, whether in the North, Centre, or South, the message has been the same: jobs, wealth creation, and public sector reforms. President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera has hammered home these points with unusual consistency, flanked by a youthful running mate, Trade Minister Engineer Vitumbiko Mumba.
This consistency and discipline has been MCP’s biggest strength. While other parties chase headlines with fiery attacks, slogans, and insults to Malawians for voting Dr. Chakwera in 2020, MCP has kept its story straight. It has avoided the trap of responding to insults, instead reminding voters what it has done and what it plans to do.
That kind of discipline is what makes the MCP look like the only serious manager of the country’s affairs.
Many political observers initially doubted whether Dr. Chakwera would find a fitting running mate who could bring freshness to his campaign and translate his vision into reality. But in naming Vitumbiko Mumba, a relatively young technocrat with roots in the North, MCP and Dr. Chakwera hit the jackpot.
Mumba’s debut on the campaign trail has been one of the defining moments of this election season. His speeches have blended youthful energy with policy focus, giving the campaign a double edge—stability under Dr. Chakwera and renewal through Mumba.
For voters yearning for generational change, Mumba’s selection was more than symbolic. It was strategic, and it has worked.
Contrast that with UTM, which after the collapse of the Tonse Alliance and the death of Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima, has tried to rebuild itself as the party of reforms. But instead of selling its manifesto, UTM has trapped itself in endless quarrels with the DPP and an almost comic obsession with parading the academic qualifications of its candidates.
At times, the DPP-UTM feud and pompous academic displays from Dr. Dalitso Kabambe and Dr. Matthews Mtumbuka have drowned out the very issues Malawians care about—jobs, food security, and economic stability.
Then there is the DPP. If Malawi’s elections were to be won on crowd ferrying, recycled slogans, and raw bitterness, then perhaps the party would be leading. But the reality is stark. Its rallies have been thin on substance and bloated with nostalgia.
Former President Arthur Peter Mutharika’s campaign has been reduced to shouting “Mwakhaulatu?” at the top of his lungs, punctuated by chants of “Mwadyapo,” “Munandisowa eti,” and “Osadzavotanso mopusa.”
The lines trigger laughter and applause, but the amusement quickly fades into the deafening question: What exactly will the DPP do differently if it returns to power?
When APM is not insulting Malawians, his pitch to voters is even more surreal: boasting that he is still breathing, still has years before his death, and still fit enough to “Nyenyanyenya” his opponents.
Instead of offering a roadmap, the DPP has turned its campaign into a grotesque comedy skit about old age and revenge while systematically avoiding a mention on corruption.
Even its choice of running mate, Justice Jane Ansah, ties the party back to one of the most painful controversies in Malawi’s democratic history—the disputed 2019 elections. Far from shifting focus to the future, the DPP has reawakened bitter memories voters would rather forget.
The result is predictable.
The DPP makes the loudest noise on the campaign trail but often says the least. From APM down to his last surrogates, the message is vengeance, anger, and bitterness, not policies. It is a campaign that entertains, even amuses, but does not inspire confidence.
In this whole campaign, MCP has been left looking like the only adult in the room.
Taken together, these dynamics explain why MCP appears to be winning the campaign so far. The party talks about jobs, reforms, and wealth creation everywhere, every time, while Mumba’s addition has given the campaign a fresh face that appeals to younger and Northern voters.
By avoiding petty fights, MCP has projected itself as calm and reliable, a government that can be trusted to continue steering the country.
Meanwhile, the DPP drowns in hollow slogans and self-parody, while UTM wastes energy in opposition quarrels and in polishing CVs on stage.
With just two weeks left before Malawians vote, campaigns will intensify. The DPP will continue to bank on its crowd-borrowing and ferrying power, and UTM will push harder on its reform agenda.
But the difference may come down to who convinces Malawians that they have both a plan and the discipline to deliver it. So far, MCP looks more like a government with a roadmap than an opposition shouting from the sidelines.
As one veteran political analyst put it: “If elections were won on message discipline alone, MCP would already be coasting home.”
The final verdict, of course, belongs to Malawians at the ballot box on September 16. But for now, on the campaign trail, MCP is winning the war of ideas—while DPP, quite literally, is winning the war of comedy.
