Malawi's opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera has won the country's rerun presidential vote, officials say.
He defeated incumbent Peter Mutharika with 58.57% of the vote in Tuesday's poll, the electoral commission announced late on Saturday.
In February, Malawi's constitutional court annulled Mr Mutharika's victory in the May 2019 election, citing vote tampering.
The country was bitterly divided in the run-up to this week's election.
Following the official result on Saturday, Mr Chakwera said his victory was "a win for democracy and justice," adding: "My heart is bubbling with joy."
His supporters took to the streets of the Malawian capital, Lilongwe, sounding car horns and letting off fireworks.
Mr Chakwera is expected to be sworn in on Sunday.
This is a hugely significant moment in Malawi's political history, and is evidence that neither the courts nor the electorate were prepared to be bullied or influenced by presidential power.
The incumbent Peter Mutharika's narrow victory in last year's poll was cancelled by the Constitutional Court after evidence emerged that correction fluid had been used to alter the vote tallies. He then turned to the Supreme Court for help. Judges there came under a lot of pressure but stood firm.
Unlike Uganda, The Malawi Electoral Commission comprises of a Chairperson; a judge nominated by the Judicial Service Commission not the president. And it also comprises of atleast six Commissioners appointed by the President in consultation with all political parties represented in Parliament. The President then appoints suitably qualified persons to be members of the commission and the Public Appointments Committee of Parliament determines their conditions of Service.
So, the opposition win in Malawi starts from the chore foundation and independence of the electoral commission. For Uganda to achive this, there must be changes done in the appointment of the electoral commission
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