(23 Jun 2020) Main contenders in Malawi's historical presidential elections on Tuesday took to polling centres located in their home districts to cast their vote.
Incumbent and torch bearer for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and United Democratic Front (UDF) alliance President Peter Mutharika travelled from the presidential palace in Blantyre to Thyolo to vote in the constitutional court sanctioned polls.
Mutharika, 80, faces opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera, 65, in the much awaited election preceded by a series of violent protests since June 2019.
Accompanied by his wife, Mutharika after voting bemoaned violence that characterised some parts of the country including the southern and the central regions.
He said DPP Secretary-General Grezelder Jeffry found herself hiding in Nkhotakota on the eve of polling day, fleeing unknown attackers.
Meanwhile his main challenger Chakwera, candidate for the Tonse alliance that comprises of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), the UTM party and seven other political parties, was in the Malawi capital, Lilongwe, casting his vote.
Chakwera also lamented the violence that characterised polling day in some parts of the country.
The new Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) Chairperson, Justice Chifundo Kachale, has urged security agencies to act on the reported cases of violence.
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