Seventeen candidates are running for president, but observers say the race is between outgoing Lazarus Chakwera and Peter Mutharika, who also duelled in the 2019 vote that was nullified over tampering and followed by a rerun.

Chakwera, a 70-year-old pastor, and law professor Mutharika, 85, have campaigned on improving the agriculture-dependent economy.

In urban centres, many young people, who make up around 60 per cent of the 7.2 million registered voters expressed a desire for change.

“There is anger in us,” said Ettah Nyasulu, a 28 year old waitress in the capital Lilongwe, before heading to vote. I want to change this government. I want young people to be in good jobs, to have opportunities to change our lives,” she said.

The election is also for seats in parliament and local wards.

With a winner of the presidential ballot requiring more than 50 per cent of votes, a run-off within 60 days is likely.

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Voting was proceeding smoothly with all the more than 15,000 polling booths open, Malawi Election Commission chief Annabel Mtalimanja told reporters mid-morning.

“It’s a very peaceful election process. People have gathered in large numbers,” Malembo MP Lawrence Chaziya said.

Chakwera and Mutharika have both been accused of cronyism, corruption, and economic mismanagement in their first terms, but other candidates, including the only woman, former president Joyce Banda, did not appear to be attracting significant support, according to polls.

Source: Punch