Former President Peter Mutharika is inching closer to reclaiming State House, after official results from 24 district councils put him well ahead of his nearest challenger, incumbent President Lazarus Chakwera. According to the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), Mutharika has so far secured 2,022,879 votes, while Chakwera trails with 729,425 votes. The figures place the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate firmly in the driver’s seat, with his party dominating 21 out of the 24 councils already announced. With only 12 councils left to declare, Mutharika now requires fewer than 300,000 votes to surpass the 50% + 1 threshold needed for an outright win. By contrast, Chakwera faces an almost impossible task: he would need to harvest over 1.6 million votes from the remaining councils to overturn Mutharika’s commanding lead.