Malawi started voting on Tuesday in an election pitting President Lazarus Chakwera against his predecessor Peter Mutharika, with sky-high inflation and food prices at the top of voters' minds.

Another 15 candidates, including former president Joyce Banda, are also contesting the presidency, but analysts expect a two-horse race between Chakwera, 70, and Mutharika, 85. If no one secures over 50% of the vote, there will be a second round.

"I have voted for the candidate that I am confident will solve the hunger problem. I am struggling to feed my children," said Alindiine Bellison Kazembe, a 32-year-old mother of four working as a maid in the commercial capital, Blantyre, who was among the early voters lined up on Tuesday morning.

CYCLONE AND DROUGHT HAVE ADDED TO HARDSHIP

Malawi has faced economic stagnation since former pastor Chakwera was elected in 2020, with a devastating cyclone and a regional drought wiping out crops and worsening hardship. Inflation has been over 20% for more than three years.

"My worst experience has to do with prices of goods that keep rising. I have voted in the hope that the next president will do something about our economy," said Mazaza Msiska, a 50-year-old man in the Ndirande township, who said he lost his job during the Covid-19 pandemic and hasn't found work since.

Polls opened at 6 am local time (0400 GMT), with delays at some stations due to problems with the biometric fingerprint readers.

"We had to revert to manual identification, as the machines couldn't pick up identities. So we were switching to and from, but now it has stabilised and voting is proceeding smoothly," said Wezi Winnesi, an election monitor for the opposition United Democratic Front party.

The country of around 22-million people is also voting for members of parliament and local councillors on Tuesday.

LEADERS HAVE FACED OFF BEFORE

Corruption scandals have contributed to disillusionment with both Chakwera's Malawi Congress Party and Mutharika's Democratic Progressive Party. Chakwera came to office accusing Mutharika's government of rampant corruption, but his handling of cases has been criticised as selective and slow.

"The race is too close to call between the opposition leader Mutharika, and the incumbent. The economy, corruption, food security, governance style and leaders' agility are the cutting issues," said Chimwemwe Tsitsi, a political scientist at the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences.

"For the ruling party, their weakness is on economic performance, but their strength lies in the lack of unity among opposition parties."

The two main candidates have already faced off three times, with a dramatic turn in the last election when the Constitutional Court annulled Mutharika's 2019 victory due to irregularities and ordered a rerun which Chakwera won in 2020.

Results are usually released within a week.