Malawi's former president, Peter Mutharika, takes an early lead against incumbent, Lazarus Chakwera

Malawi's former president Peter Mutharika has taken an early lead in this week's election, according to provisional results.

In his face off against incumbent Lazarus Chakwera, Mutharika has roughly 51 percent of votes cast in a quarter of the nation’s councils, compared to 39 percent for Chakwera, Reuters reported on Sunday.

Election observers had predicted that the September 16 vote would be a two-horse race between Mutharika and Chakwera, the candidates for Malawi’s two biggest parties.

In the five years since 70-year-old Chakwera took office, Malawi has faced economic stagnation. A cyclone and drought wiped out crops and increased food insecurity, while inflation has been above 20 percent for more than three years.

Mutharika, 85, who was in office from 2014 to 2020, has run on a platform of a return to better days. During his tenure, he was credited with lowering inflation and improving infrastructure but critics accused him of cronyism.

Chakwera came to office pledging to clean up graft, but his handling of cases has been criticised as selective and slow.

The election commission has until September 24 to announce the full provisional result of the presidential election. It has warned candidates not to declare victory prematurely and says it is cross-checking every tally sheet to ensure accuracy.

A candidate needs to secure more than 50 percent of valid votes for an outright win, otherwise there will be a second round.

The constitutional court annulled Mutharika's 2019 election victory because of irregularities including the use of correction fluid on results sheets. Chakwera won the re-run in 2020.