In the history of Malawi’s multiparty democracy, no leader has benefited so much from manipulation, backroom deals, and suspicious electoral outcomes like Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika.
While Bingu wa Mutharika in 2009 earned a majority victory widely considered fair and decisive, the same cannot be said about his younger brother, APM.
From the minute he entered the presidential race in 2014 to his controversial near return in 2019, every ‘victory’ under his name reeks of irregularities, rigging, and a shadowy operation of electoral deceit. It is a fact that the Professor has never won a free and fair election, only survived them.
Signing in as a new President after being sworn in at the High Court in Blantyre
In 2014, irregular entries, altered tabulations, and manipulated figures dominated the results transmission system. This was the year that a MEC warehouse was torched down in Lilongwe in a bid for the DPP to hide the massive disparities between the tally sheets used to announce the final results and the actual casted votes.
The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), under the stewardship of Justice Maxon Mbendera, appeared overwhelmed by the scale of irregularities. So visibly tormented was Justice Mbendera by the injustice he was party to, that he broke down in tears while announcing the final presidential results ushering in APM to replace Joyce Banda.
Malawians watched in stunned disbelief as their electoral chief wept, his emotional breakdown speaking louder than the fraudulent figures he was announcing. His tears remain one of the most haunting symbols of stolen elections in Malawi.
APM himself, just like a thief, was hurriedly sworn in at a hastily organized ceremony at the High Court of Malawi without any national fun fair as has always been the case when a President has legitimately won the elections.
To this day, Malawians have never been told why the Honourable Justice Mbendera, now deceased, had to cry when announcing the votes.
Five years later, in 2019, the DPP regime under Mutharika once again plunged the nation into electoral chaos. This time, it wasn’t just emotional betrayal, it was brazen, documented rigging.
Tipp-exed results sheets became the infamous symbols of the DPP’s rigging machine. Justice Jane Ansah, then MEC Chairperson, pushed forward with the announcement of doctored results despite national outrage. Court evidence later revealed that these results were tampered with, prompting the Constitutional Court to annul the entire election, the first in Malawi’s history and one of the few in Africa.
Yet, Justice Ansah never showed remorse. Instead, she later joined the very party accused of the rigging, the DPP where she unsuccessfully contested during the party primaries.
This has again left Malawians wondering whether Justice Ansah was serving the interests of Malawians in 2019 or she was safeguarding the interests of DPP, and her own future interests.
If truth be told, APM’s political legacy, if he has any, is one of electoral engineering. He has never inspired the nation, nor galvanized a movement. Instead, his presidency has been secured by exploiting loopholes, manipulating systems, and surrounding himself with enablers willing to drag democracy through the mud for a seat at the table.
While his supporters tout him as a statesman, history will remember him as the president who could never win without cheating.
The rigging in 2019 was so widespread that it earned international scrutiny. Observers noted the questionable role of MEC, the use of correction fluid (Tipp-ex) on tally sheets, duplicate result forms, and total disregard for electoral procedures.
DPP officials were seen interfering in results management and physically intimidating MEC staff. Yet, even after courts nullified the election, Mutharika remained defiant, portraying himself as the victim rather than the perpetrator of fraud.
Fast forward to 2025, and once again the DPP, true to character, is resisting attempts to modernize and secure the electoral system.
Their latest target is the Smartmatic Electronic Electoral Management platform. Why would anyone oppose a system designed to reduce human error, prevent tampering, and digitize vote transmission? The answer lies in fear. The DPP, and Mutharika in particular, fear transparency because they have never succeeded when elections are clean.
To put it plainly, you don’t protest change of locks unless you’re a thief. Malawians are asking a simple question in Chichewa: Kodi wakuba angakanizidwe kusintha ma lock kapena makiyi mnyumba mwako pamene unaberedwa kale?—Can you allow a thief to dictate whether you should change locks on your house after they’ve broken into? The answer is obvious, except to the DPP.
The emotional breakdown of Justice Mbendera in 2014, and the silence of Jane Ansah in 2019, offer a sharp contrast, but both reflect how the electoral process has been compromised under APM’s watch.
Mbendera’s tears suggested he was forced into complicity. Ansah’s defiance suggested she was comfortable with it and an accomplice. In both cases, the end result was a stolen election that served one man, Arthur Peter Mutharika.
The irony is that the same DPP is now demanding access to MEC’s database and opposing any audit systems that limit their backdoor access. They are funding demonstrations, orchestrating opposition division, and undermining MEC leadership. Yet, they refuse to accept measures that guarantee clean elections. That’s because, for the DPP, elections have never been about the people, they’ve always been about power. And to them elections are never won, unless you rig at all cost.
The fight for democracy in Malawi is far from over. As September 2025 approaches, the DPP has returned to its old tricks, discrediting institutions, questioning processes, and preparing a narrative of rigging in reverse.
They want to be seen as victims when in fact they are the architects of some of the worst electoral thefts in the region, if not world over.
What Malawians must remember is that Arthur Peter Mutharika has never been a legitimate winner. His political survival has always depended on chaos, corruption, and control.
The 50%+1 vote threshold terrifies the DPP because it demands a clear mandate, something APM has never had. It demands truth, something the party has never trusted. It demands a clean fight, something the party has never risked.
Now, Malawi deserves better than recycled fraud and presidential impostors. It’s time to expose the hollow victories of Arthur Peter Mutharika and the DPP for what they are. Stolen mandates built on the backs of democratic betrayal.
As new systems are implemented and electoral reforms take root, the nation must remain steadfast in refusing to let thieves guard the vote.
Malawi can no longer afford to let the same cabal that cried foul over integrity run away with ballots again. Arthur Peter Mutharika’s time is past. His victories were never real. And this time, the people will be watching, with new locks, new keys, and no room for electoral fraud.
