The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has announced that at 2 o'clock this afternoon, it will declare the winner of the 16 September presidential election, eight days after the poll.

The electoral body made the announcement last night, after failing to address the media on its progress in verifying and confirming votes.

MEC Spokesperson, Sangwani Mwafulirwa, justified the development, saying the commission was engaged with the electoral process, that today they should make the final announcement on presidential election results.

"The intention of the commission is that when they come for an announcement, it should be the final announcement that will declare the winner in these elections" he said.

However, he appealed to Malawians to remain calm and peaceful, as the electoral body is concluding its work.

"People should not resort to taking to the streets, that does not change the election results record. 

"We have already been patient all this time, there is nothing that cannot restrain the nation from being patient just a few hours more," he said.

So far, MEC has announced presidential election results from 24 local councils, which puts former leader Peter Mutharika on the lead with 2,022,879 votes, while incumbent President Lazarus Chakwera is trailing with 728,425 votes.

Meanwhile, the High Court in Lilongwe has dismissed an application by President Lazarus Chakwera and Malawi Congress Party (MCP), to restrain MEC from declaring winner of the Tuesday presidential election.

Judge Howard Pemba has only granted President Chakwera and MCP, a request for judicial review on the electoral process.