BLANTYRE - Malawi's President Peter
Mutharika began his second five-year term with a tough stance
against corruption and pledged to revive the economy, following
accusations of corruption and mismanagement.
Speaking at his inauguration on Friday in Blantyre, Malawi's
second largest city, Mutharika warned that he would not spare
anyone found abusing their positions, in an apparent response to
allegations of corruption that marked his first term.
"The honeymoon is over. If you belong to the DPP (Democratic
Progressive Party), you have no right to think that you are
above the law or to be defiant to your superiors in the name of
the party", he said before thousands of cheering supporters and
military parades at Kamuzu stadium.
"We will count it as indiscipline and we will fire you."
The opposition parties have said Mutharika has nurtured
graft, but he denies that. He has said local media reports he
benefited from a $4 million contract to supply food to the
police force were a ploy to smear him before the elections.
"We want a corrupt-free Malawi where our public resources
continue to build roads, community technical colleges and buy
drugs for the people," he added.
Mutharika won the election with a 38.57% share of the vote,
with opposition party leader Lazarus Chakwera scoring 35.41% and
Deputy President Saulos Chilima claiming 20.24% in the final
tally.
Mutharika said his government would push a law that will
ensure that 60 percent of government procurement goes to local
companies and also offer tax breaks to the private sector.
He also pledged to offer soft loans to smallholder
farmers as well as continue to make the price of fertiliser and
seed cheap, signalling a continuation of subsidies that boosted
food production during most of his first term.
The president's inauguration speech has, however, been
overshadowed by a declaration by his main rival, Chakwera, that
he has rejected results of the May 21 election announced by the
Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC).
Making his own parallel address in Lilongwe, the
administrative capital, Chakwera said he is in the process of
filing fresh petitions to the High Court asking it to nullify
the results.
"I reject MEC's fraudulent presidential results. This
election has laid bare the corruption that has contaminated all
our governance institutions," he said.
Results had been due at the weekend but had to be delayed
after a court on Saturday granted the opposition an injunction
after the electoral commission received 147 complaints of
irregularities, including results sheets with sections blotted
out or altered with correction fluid.