Malawi’s Vice-President, Michael Usi, has officially entered the race for the country’s top office, setting the stage for a rare contest between a sitting president and his deputy.
On Tuesday, Usi submitted his nomination papers to the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), confirming his bid to run against President Lazarus Chakwera in the general elections scheduled for September. He made the announcement in Lilongwe, promising to reform and restore discipline within the public service if elected.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank President Lazarus Chakwera for entrusting me with the position of Vice-President as well as Minister of State for Public Service Delivery,” Usi said during his address.
Usi will stand as the presidential candidate of the newly formed Odya Zake Alibe Mlandu party, a breakaway faction of the United Transformation Movement (UTM). The UTM is currently part of the ruling coalition with President Chakwera’s Malawi Congress Party (MCP). However, the political alliance has faced growing tensions, especially after the sudden death of former Vice-President Saulos Chilima last year in a military plane crash.
Usi was nominated by the UTM to fill the vice-presidency following Chilima’s death and was subsequently appointed by President Chakwera. Under Malawi’s constitution, the president does not have the authority to dismiss a sitting vice-president, which has created unique dynamics in the country’s executive leadership.
If cleared by the MEC, Usi’s presidential candidacy will mark only the second time in Malawi’s democratic history that a serving vice-president has challenged an incumbent president. The first occurred in 2019, when then Vice-President Chilima ran against President Peter Mutharika after their relationship soured. Like Usi, Chilima had defied pressure to resign and went on to form his own party, the UTM. He came third in that election.
However, the 2019 results were later nullified by Malawi’s Constitutional Court, citing widespread irregularities. A fresh election was held in 2020, and Chilima joined forces with Chakwera as his running mate. Together, they won in a landslide.
That alliance has since unravelled. Tensions within the coalition have grown more visible since Chilima’s passing, with UTM and MCP members often at odds. Usi’s candidacy signals a formal break from the alliance and is likely to reshape the political landscape ahead of the September polls.
The Odya Zake Alibe Mlandu party, which translates to “One who eats alone has no case to answer,” positions itself as a reformist movement aiming to restore transparency, accountability, and equitable governance in Malawi.
With political alliances shifting and the memory of past electoral upheaval still fresh, Malawi is now bracing for a high-stakes and unpredictable election season.
