It all started like a rumor prior to 2014 elections that Lazarus Chakwera would quit his pastoral career and venture into active politics.
Indeed after losing twice consecutively 2014 and 2019, Chakwera ascended to power with the courtesy of Tonse Alliance.
Many Malawians had a gargantuan hope that the Tonse Alliance would deliver what was promised bearing in mind that it was composed of experienced political gurus including former President, Joyce Banda and former vice president, Saulos Chilima among others.
Unfortunately, on 16 September 2025, Malawians decided to boot out Chakwera regime in preference to Peter Mutharika due to escalating high prices of goods and services, scarcity of fuel, forex and food, and most importantly, rampant corruption, among others.
Although many Malawians hold the view that Chakwera leadership grossly fell short of their aspirations, one question persistently lingers, is Chakwera still politically relevant?
This question can be answered from both the national and international point of view.
Firstly, at national level, it is no longer a secret that Chakwera was unanimously endorsed as the leader of Malawi Congress Party (MCP) even after his presidential election loss this year.
The truth of the matter is that all members of MCP who were elected at a convention still maintain their positions till 2029 regardless of whether they lost 2025 general elections or not. So Chakwera is not an exception.
Secondly, according to Malawi Constitution, Chakwera is still politically relevant.
So far, Chakwera has served one term as the President of Malawi. The Malawi Constitution therefore empowers him to stand again for the second term.
It must be noted at this time that supremacy of the Malawi Constitution entails that any law, rule, regulation or guideline that contradicts it must be rendered invalid.
For instance, even if MCP constitution may bar Chakwera, he is still mandated by Malawi Constitution to stand again unless he voluntarily decides not to.
Furthermore, as President Mutharika will not stand in 2030, because he will have completed his maximum two presidential terms, Chakwera is likely to contend with weaker candidates such as Atupele Muluzi and Dalitso Kabambe.
At this time, Chakwera will have an added advantage over others of having an experience of being the President of Malawi before.
Thirdly, over a million people who voted for Chakwera in the just ended presidential elections prove a point that he is still politically relevant.
Moving forward to the international scene, the appointment of Chakwera by Commonwealth to lead an envoy on peacekeeping negotiations in Tanzania signals his political relevance at a broader level.
Indeed the international community has noted that Chakwera showed statesmanship when he conceded defeat to the incumbent president Mutharika even before official results were announced by the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC).
Some critics contend that Chakwera was chosen for that position simply because Malawi is a close neighbor of Tanzania. However, Tanzania does not share its borders with Malawi only. Therefore, it is an honor that Commonwealth saw it fit to dress Chakwera in such prestigious robes.
Some schools of thought surmise that Chakwera’s background of being a reverend and President of Assemblies of God for over 25 years puts him at an advantage of resolving disputes among various warring factions. This sounds logical too.
Despite this honour, it is on record that human rights activists in Tanzania rejected Chakwera on the basis that Chakwera government was ineffective and corrupt. They also cited that it is premature to clinch negotiation deals when some incidents of killings are still under investigation.
Much as Chakwera government was allegedly involved in corrupt deals, there is no evidence that proves Chakwera was directly involved in corruption.
Furthermore, peace deals do not exonerate wrong doers from facing justice. Therefore, it is possible to agree on ending conflict thereby halting escalating human violations further while investigations are still underway.
Finally, based on the foregoing discourse, it sounds logical to conclude that former president Chakwera is still politically relevant both at national and international level.
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