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Arthur Peter Mutharika ( ; born 18July 1940) is a Malawian politician and lawyer who is the seventh president of Malawi since 2025. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the younger brother of the third president, Bingu wa Mutharika, he served as the fifth president from 2014 to 2020, and has also been leading the DPP since 2012.
Born in Thyolo District, Mutharika graduated from the University of London in 1965 with a bachelor's degree in law, and the Yale University with a master's degree in law in 1966 and a doctorate in Juridical Science in 1968. In 1971, he was admitted to the bar in Tanzania and became a professional lawyer. As professor, Mutharika taught several universities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Uganda. He has also worked in the field of international justice, specialising in international economic law, international law and comparative constitutional law.
In 2009, Mutharika joined politics during the presidency of his elder brother and was elected to the National Assembly for the Thyolo District. Mutharika was later appointed as an Advisor to The President on Foreign and Domestic Policy and Minister of Justice by Bingu and served in these positions until the following year when he was appointed Minister of Education, Science and Technology and served in the role until the following year when Mutharika was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. From 2010, there were growing tensions between Bingu and his vice president, Joyce Banda. Mutharika was endorsed as his brother's successor in the 2014 presidential elections, which Banda strongly opposed, thus she was kicked out of the party. In 2012, Bingu died and Mutharika attempted to succeed his brother, but Banda became president with the support of the military. Mutharika was elected president in the 2014 presidential election, defeating incumbent Joyce Banda and the opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP)'s Lazarus Chakwera.
Mutharika began his presidency at age 74, thus becoming the oldest person to become president. During his first presidency, Malawi experienced economic growth with inflation falling from 24% in 2014 to single digits by 2019. Despite this however, many economic challenges remained. Mutharika's first term was overshadowed by corruption scandals and mass protests and discontent against his government. In 2018, thousands of people took to the streets in several cities across the country and protested against Mutharika and his government denouncing corruption scandals. In 2019, Mutharika won the 2019 presidential election, but then the Supreme Court of Appeal annulled the election in February 2020, citing irregularities. In the presidential rerun in June 2020, Mutharika lost to Chakwera.
In August 2020, two months after leaving the presidency, Mutharika's bank account was suspended by the Malawi Anti-Corruption Commission. In January 2021, the High Court dismissed Mutharika's request to lift the suspension of his bank account. In July 2022, Mutharika said that his party was ready to win the 2025 general elections and was still considering whether to run again. Mutharika eventually announced his candidacy and defeated Chakwera in the presidential election.
As of June 2014, he supported diversification of Malawi's agriculture into other crops besides tobacco.
His first term was marked by strong popular discontent, due to corruption, food shortages and power cuts. In 2018, thousands of people took to the streets in several cities across the country to denounce corruption scandals. Mutharika was accused of the involvement in a bribery case, suspected of having received more than $200,000 from a businessman who had obtained a multi-million dollar contract with the police. Malawi's Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) cleared Muthatika on the Malawi Police Service food rations contract allegations. The ACB stated that investigations into the Malawi Police Service (MPS) food rations contract have revealed that President Peter Mutharika did not personally benefit from $200,000 deposited in the Democratic Progressive Party's bank account.
On 3 February 2020, the Constitutional Court judges arrived in Lilongwe court to give a long-awaited ruling on that disputed presidential election, travelling in a military vehicle under heavy police escort. The judges took turns to read the 500-page decision over more than seven hours. The Malawi Constitutional Court ruled to nullify the 21 May 2019 election, citing irregularities by the Malawi Electoral Commission. It further ordered fresh elections to be conducted in 150 days. The nullification was unprecedented in Malawi, and only the second instance of such happening in Africa, the other being the Supreme Court of Kenya decision regarding the 2017 Kenyan presidential election.
Mutharika was defeated by Lazarus Chakwera in the 2020 election re-run, having only obtained about 40% of the vote.
On 17 July 2022, Peter Mutharika held a press conference at his Page House in Mangochi where he accused Chakwera's administration of failing Malawians and not fulfilling their Campaign promises. He also vowed that his party was planning on winning the 2025 elections and was still considering on whether he should stand again.
Mutharika remained a widower for more than twenty years, but on 21 June 2014, he married Gertrude Maseko, a member of the Malawi Parliament.
Mutharika is a member of the Presbyterian Church.
2019 and 2020 elections
On 21 May 2019, Malawi held elections to elect a new president, members of parliament, and local government councillors. Peter Mutharika was nominated and endorsed as the presidential candidate of the DPP. His main challenger was Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP). Saulos Chilima, who had been Mutharika's vice president since 2014, also put up a strong challenge against Mutharika since the two parted ways in April 2018. The election was marred with controversy and claims of rigging by Mutharika's DPP. In some districts such as Nsanje and Chikwawa in the southern end of Malawi, the Malawi Electoral Commission staff managing the polls were accused of swapping the presidential results for Chakwera to be for Mutharika. A district polling staff for Nsanje, Fred Thomas, was arrested for being found tampering with results sheets of the election. Similar issues of vote rigging and threatening of opposition political party monitors by the DPP were reported in other districts such as Zomba, Thyolo, Mulanje, Lilongwe and Nkhotakota. A lot of results sheets were also affected by tampering by "tippexing". Political thugs, thought to be from the DPP, got hold of results and changed figures by 'erasing' original figures by applying tippex (a brand of correction fluid). This led to the election to be known as "the Tippex Election", and the subsequent election of Mutharika as "the Tippex President". On 27 May 2019 and despite all the irregularities, the Malawi Electoral Commission Chairperson Supreme Court judge Justice Jane Ansah, announced Mutharika as the winner of the controversial elections with 1,940,709 votes against 1,781,740 for closest challenger Dr Lazarus Chakwera of the MCP. Saulos Chilima, who represented the UTM polled 1,018,369 votes. Mutharika was subsequently sworn in on 28 May 2019 for a new five-year term. The opposition MCP and UTM have then further applied to the High Court of Malawi to nullify the election results and conduct another election. Meanwhile, supporters of the opposition continued conducting demonstrations ever since against the conduct of the elections. The Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) then headed by Timothy Mtambo led a wave of protest against Mutharika regime accusing his government of nepotism and demanding that Jane Ansah resign.
Between terms (2020–2025)
In August 2020, the Malawi Anti-Corruption Commission froze the bank accounts of Peter and his wife Gertrude, as a part of an anti-corruption investigation into the importation of 5 billion Malawian kwacha's worth of cement free of taxes, a privilege for incumbent presidents in Malawi. In January 2021, the High Court dismissed Mutharika's application to lift the freeze on his accounts.
2025 election
Mutharika announced plans to run again for president in 2025 against Chakwera. In August 2024, Mutharika's candidacy was endorsed by the DPP. Mutharika defeated Chakwera and won more than 56% of the vote in the election held on 16 September 2025.
Second presidency (2025–present)
Mutharika was inaugurated for a second time as president in a ceremony at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre on 4 October 2025. He began establishing his cabinet the next day.
Personal life
Mutharika has two daughters, Moyenda and Monique, and a son, Mahopela, from his first marriage. His first wife, Christophine, died from cancer on 1 January 1990. She was a Catholic from the Caribbean.
Selected works
Awards
Mutharika is a recipient of the following awards:
International positions held
External links
Categories: 1940 Births, Academic Staff Of Addis Ababa University, Academic Staff Of The University Of Dar Es Salaam, Alumni Of The University Of London, Alumni Of University Of London Worldwide, Democratic Progressive Party Politicians, Government Ministers Of Malawi, Justice Ministers Of Malawi, Living People, Malawian Academics, Malawian Presbyterians, Members Of The National Assembly, Ministers Of Foreign Affairs Of Malawi, People From Thyolo District, Presidents Of Malawi, Washington University In St. Louis Faculty, Yale University Alumni
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