With the smooth transition of power when Vice President Joyce Banda was sworn-in as President of the Republic of Malawi yesterday in Lilongwe, we want to hail all Malawians who gave our nascent democracy a chance to flourish.

The ruling Democratic Progressive Party ministers, MPs, the Malawi Defence Force, the Malawi Police Service, the Judiciary, Parliament, the civil society organisations, the opposition and all stakeholders including ordinary citizens, deserve a pat on the back for adhering to the dictates of the constitution.

This has helped to entrench and cement a democratic culture in the country and is a fresh breath of air on our African continent, where smooth transitions are rare.

Malawi, with a young history of 18 years of democracy, joins African countries such as neighbours Zambia and Senegal in West Africa who have recently had peaceful, orderly and smooth transitions.

For Malawi, its a record in southern Africa because this is the first time in our region that a female president has ascended to the highest political office of any country.

For the record, Joyce Banda is Africa's second woman president after Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia.

The Sunday Times offers its congratulations to Her Excellency Madam Joyce Banda for assuming State House functions and lead the way to emancipate the country from the jaws of economic instability.

We simply shout on top of our voices: Long Live Democracy and Constitutionalism!