Just five years after being dramatically unseated by a court ruling, Peter Mutharika is set to return to power as the president of Malawi.
Mutharika, who held the top job from 2014 to 2020, seems to have triumphed in last week's general election, usurping his long-time rival, President Lazarus Chakwera.
Mutharika told voters on the campaign trail that life was simply better under him - Malawi has experienced one of its worst ever economic downturns since Chakwera took office.
But the record of 85-year-old Mutharika has its own blemishes, from corruption allegations to the debacle that ended his first presidency.
This is the fourth time he has run for office, but initially, Mutharika did not intend to go into politics.
Born in 1940 in the tea-growing region of Thyolo, he was raised by two teachers and developed a love for education.
I grew up in a family where my parents were educators, and myself I spent all my life in higher education, at seven universities on three continents, Mutharika commented in 2017, during an address at the UK's Oxford University.
Mutharika went on to become a professor, building an expertise in international justice. He spent decades away from Malawi teaching at universities in the US, Tanzania, Uganda, and Ethiopia.
Mutharika eventually pivoted to politics in 2004, when his older brother, Bingu, became Malawi's president.
Mutharika returned home to serve as an adviser to the new president and in 2009, he was elected as an MP for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
He served in his brother's cabinet as justice minister, education minister, and then foreign minister.
Mutharika scaled the heights of power relatively peacefully, but tensions emerged in 2010, amid reports that Bingu planned to name his brother as the DPP's presidential candidate for the 2014 elections.
However, Bingu died in April 2012, disrupting succession plans and ending in chaos as the constitution mandated the vice-president take over, leading to Joyce Banda becoming Malawi's first female president.
This event saw Mutharika face treason charges, although they were later dropped after he was elected president in 2014.
His first term recipients lauded for boosting Malawi's infrastructure through loans and reducing inflation.
However, issues remained, with scandals including an accusation of receiving kickbacks from contracts that led to protests.
Following a drawn-out electoral dispute in 2019 that led to his ousting, Mutharika surprised many by entering the race again in 2025.
As the new president, he faces immense challenges, including a soaring inflation rate and a struggling economy where many have descended into poverty.
Now, with the trust of voters, Mutharika's leadership will be closely monitored to see if he can revitalize Malawi.
