Malawi opposition leader Chakwera says he is ‘leading’ as election tally goes on

Opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera said Wednesday that he was “leading ” in the presidential election count and that his Malawi Congress Party (MCP)  had results from its monitors in the  polling stations but but the Malawi Electoral Commission(MEC) called for calm and patience from citizens as results from Tuesday’s tripartite elections are being awaited.

Results were trickling in dribs and drabs at the MEC main tally centre in Blantyre.

But addressing a news conference at his Namiwawa residence in Blantyre,  Chakwera said  the MCP has been tabulating the results from MEC main tally centre and “constantly” comparing with its monitors.

Chakwera said “sings of victory” are so evident for MCP in the elections.

But he bemoaned the attempts by some people who he claims are disturbing the votes.

Chakwera said the results tabulated from his IT experts who are using high tech equipment indicates that he is hovouring at 40 to 45 % of the counted votes.

“So far the message is clear, we know that we have a tremendous lead of 40 to 50% presidential votes counted,” he said.

Chakwera urged the pollester to speed up tabulation of electoral figures ,saying the delay in doing so is bringing speculations that the results  are being tampered .

He said the party is disturbed ith  reports that some MEC officials are refusing to share final results with its monitors and warned that if the MEC officials do not stop, they will reject the outcome.

“Let MEC quicken the process of transmitting and announcing results,” he said.

MEC chairperson Jane Ansah, a judge at the Supreme Court of Malawi, said results from constituencies have started arriving at the main tally center but have to be verified before official announcements could be made.

“There is no shortcut to results counting and we urge the Malawi nation to exercise patience as the results are being counted,” she said during a   press briefing at the tally centre.

She also urged people to exercise caution over unofficial results being posted on social media sites.

“While some results reflect how people have voted and help shape the expectations, some are outright falsehood which can incite violence. Please check for the source of the information before acting on it,” she said.

Malawians voted in a tripartite election on Tuesday to choose a president, lawmakers and ward councilors.

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