Presidential candidate for Anyamata Azimayi Atsikana in the 2025 presidential race Kwame Bandawe has conceded defeat in the presidential elections.

Bandawe is the latest presidential candidate to concede defeat from the 17 presidential candidates after a a few others did the same.

“Looking at the numbers that we are getting at our tally centre and the way things are going, we thought it wise to do that,” he said

However, Bandawe said they believe that they did not do well in the elections because they did not have enough time to prepare, since their party is six months old as such, reaching out to people was not easy.

“We plan to contest again in 2030 , once the elections are over, we will immediately return to the drawing board, reconnect with the grassroots to properly introduce ourselves, come 2030, we will be stronger and more determined,” Bandawe said.

He said in every election there is a winner and a loser as such, being people who respect democracy, they thought it wise to concede defeat,he therefore urged his supporters to not to back down because in 2030 they have a lot of work to do.

A member of the Political Science Association of Malawi said Bonfase Dulani, said it is a positive development for the democracy of the country that candidates are conceding defeat, citing that this means the democracy is coming of age.

“The results are obvious where we are headed, presidential elections in particular, and we have a lot of candidates based on the numbers that MEC has announced so far, they have no chance of winning the presidency to it makes sense for them to concede the elections,” he said.

He added that presidential candidates' conceding defeat is not a calculated move because if there is a huge difference between the top candidates and those at the bottom, it is wise for them to concede defeat.

“It makes more sense for them to concede defeat than to go through the pretence that they will win, I’m sure that some people see it as a calculated move to gain favours from the party they presume will win or a measure to get political momentum, but in a democracy, it is only right for people to concede,” he said.

The Malawi electoral commission has so far announced presidential results from 26 councils out of the 32 councils so far Bandawe becomes the latest Presidential candidate to concede the results.

(Written By: Ireen Kayira)