Malawi's former President Peter Mutharika has been declared the winner of last week's elections, in a huge comeback for the 85-year-old.
Official results show that he won 57% of the vote, compared to the 33% of President Lazarus Chakwera, 70.
Chakwera, a pastor before entering politics, conceded defeat ahead of the final result being declared, phoning Mutharika to congratulate him on his historic win.
Mutharika, a former professor of law, served as president from 2014 to 2020, when he lost to Chakwera by a wide margin.
He inherits an economy that is in deep crisis, with a severe shortage of fuel and foreign currency in the poor southern African state.
The official inflation rate is close to 30%, with a frozen chicken in a supermarket in the capital, Lilongwe, costing about $20 (£15), in a nation where most people live on $2 a day or less.
The election commission said it took the full eight days it was allowed to announce the result because it wanted to check everything carefully and address the complaints first.
The 2019 election, also won by Mutharika, was annulled by the country's highest court, which found there had been widespread irregularities, including the use of correction fluid to alter results.
This was the pair's fourth electoral duel. Mutharika's older brother Bingu also served as president and died in office in 2012.
In his concession speech, Chakwera said that even though he had concerns about irregularities and anomalies, he was accepting the outcome out of respect for the majority of Malawians' collective will to have a change of government.
Chakwera's allies blamed the crisis on factors out of his control, but Mutharika's campaign mantra - a return to proven leadership - resonated with Malawian voters.
However, Mutharika will have to prove he can again tackle inflation and the economic issues that plague Malawi, especially given his own age and health concerns.
