– New Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera says God called him to pastor a nation
In a surprise turn of event, evangelical preacher Lazarus Chakwera who became president of Malawi a year after the election result was annulled has revealed how he had argued with God over the decision.
Malawi’s new President Lazarus Chakwera is an evangelical preacher who says he ventured into politics in answer to God’s call. He also shared a beautiful testimony on how God spoke to him about extending his ministry from the church to a whole nation.
“I had to argue with God over a direction in life that didn’t seem natural to me, But after a lot of discussion God was saying that: ‘I’m extending your ministry so that you’re able to pastor a whole nation'”.
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Lazarus Chakwera has for the past seven years led Malawi’s oldest party, the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), which ruled the country for three decades from 1964 to 1994 under dictator Hastings Banda’s one-party rule. Chakwera led the party into the 2014 elections, coming second to Peter Mutharika at the polls. He contested again last year, and was defeated but the vote was subsequently annulled.
After his lost last year, Lazarus swore not to be demoralized by the result but instead launched a legal battle to contest the election result in a battle that lasted for 13 months before it was overturned by Malawi’s top court which found widespread irregularities, including the use of correction fluid to tamper with result sheets.
Following a rerun, The president, now sworn in, who is a former head of the Malawi Assemblies of God, one of the largest Christian denominations in the country, won the elections with 58% of the votes, according to the Malawi Electoral Commission on Saturday night. For the re-run, Chakwera obtained the high-profile support of Vice President Saulos Chilima, former president Joyce Banda and several other small political parties.
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While addressing the nation, President Chakwera said:
“I accept this call to serve you for I am duty bound to God, the dream that binds us together, which is for us to enjoy shared prosperity, not just freedom. Time has come for us to go beyond dreaming. We all must wake up because this is a time to arise from slumber and make our dream come true.
“I pledge to run Malawi well, because that is the surest pay-off that has been long in ruins, riddled with potholes of greed and corruption. And in making this pledge, I am accepting this call to serve you with joy and holly fear for I am duty bound to God and by God and all of you”, he said
The 65 years old’s victory has since been married by joy and jubilation throughout the nation and attracted praise from prominent personalities around the world with one of them being Franklin Graham, son of late evangelist Billy Graham who said: “Congratulations to Dr. Lazarus Chakwera, who was just elected president of Malawi. I pray that God will bless, direct, and protect this man as he leads Malawi”.
Apostle Clifford Kawinga who is the leader of Salvation for All Ministries also said “it means the president will put God first in running the affairs of this country. God’s favour will fall upon our nation and enable us to have abundant resources and developments.”
Chakwera was born in Lilongwe to a subsistence farmer whose two elder sons died in infancy. He was named Lazarus after the biblical character who was raised from the dead. He took degrees in philosophy and theology, was president of the Malawi Assemblies of God from 1989 to 2013 and then became the MCP’s leader.
