It was Bingu wa Mutharika's race and the other presidential candidates should "measure themselves against" the United Democratic Front's candidate and not its national chairman, Muluzi protested.
But whatever he would like others to believe, when Malawians queue up to vote in their third democratic elections to be held before May 25, the outcome will be as much a reflection on Muluzi's record as president as it will be of voters' confidence in Mutharika.
That Muluzi is a key player in the UDF's push for a third straight term in power was evident this week as he took Mutharika on a whistle-stop tour of the country's populous southern region, where he urged voters to elect the former International Monetary Fund and World Bank bureaucrat as his successor.
Judging by the cheers, most in the crowd had come to see Muluzi, not Mutharika. After all, it is Muluzi who is widely known for a controversial election strategy of "donating" cash to every poor community he visits.
On Thursday, he gave 100 000 Malawian kwacha (about R8 000) to residents of rural Chikwawa, south of the commercial capital, Blantyre, among others. A day later, one of his aides publicly gave a yellow bag full of money to two party supporters who had entertained a crowd with jokes while waiting for him to speak.
Opposition parties say this is an attempt by Muluzi to buy votes for his party, but his supporters defend him, saying the hand-outs are part of the local kufuba custom of giving to those who are less fortunate.
Muluzi made all the key speeches at the rallies, while Mutharika sat quietly beside him. When Mutharika eventually got a chance to speak, the former Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa secretary-general did not say much, other than greeting the crowd and reminding them to vote UDF on Tuesday.
Muluzi, on the other hand, told the crowd how, over the past 10 years, he had steered the country towards true democracy.
He explained how the first 10 years after dictator Kamuzu Banda's departure had needed a "strong political leader" to consolidate democracy and how the next five years needed Mutharika, an accomplished econo mist, to turn the poverty-stricken country's economic fortunes around.
Like South Africans last month, Malawians will be heading to the polls for the third time since the introduction of multiparty democracy in 1994. There are other similarities between the two countries.
A decade into democracy, both are battling massive unemployment, rising poverty and increasing numbers of people infected with HIV/Aids. The economy and the land in both countries remain largely in the hands of minorities.
While neither economy has grown fast enough to benefit the poor, real estate and informal trade in both countries are booming.
Even some of the election campaign songs sound the same. In South Africa, one of the popular ANC election tunes was Thabo Mbeki, akekho ofana nawe (Thabo Mbeki, there is no one like you). In Malawi, UDF supporters sing their version in Chichewa: " Muluzi, balibe ofana nai. "
There are some sharp differences, too. While the ANC went to the elections confident of an easy victory, the UDF faces a real danger of being removed from power on Tuesday. Running against Mutharika are four contenders, at least one of whom, Gwanda Chakuamba, is seen as a real threat.
Chakuamba leads the Mgwirizano Coalition, an alliance of small parties that include his Republican Party. A veteran politician and farmer who served in Banda's regime in various ministerial positions, he narrowly lost the presidential elections to Muluzi in 1999 when he was still with Banda's old party, the Malawi Congress Party.
His supporters claim he lost only because of its historical baggage and now that he is no longer with the party that mismanaged Malawi for 30 years, he stands a real chance of winning. They point to Mutharika's lack of charisma and to perceptions that he is "a Muluzi yes-man".
The UDF's choice of Mutharika as its presidential candidate came as a shock to many within and outside the party. After all, he had proven himself to be the country's least favourite politician in 1999 when he secured just 22 000 of the potential five million votes in the presidential election. He later disbanded his United Party and joined Muluzi's government.
But his election as the UDF 's candidate has angered many, including First Vice-President Justin Malewezi, who is now standing independently.
Muluzi's critics says he is responsible for Mutharika's election. Having failed to amend the constitution to allow him to run for a third-term, Muluzi is said to have opted for a weaker successor who he can control behind the scenes. Also, a UDF change of its Constitution a year ago saw Muluzi become party chairman, effectively retaining control of the ruling party.
The purpose, proponents of this theory argue, is to ensure Muluzi is not prosecuted by the new government for alleged corruption committed during his term as president.
"If Mutharika wins, it will mean that Muluzi will be a de facto president. Mutharika will not do anything without Muluzi's blessings as he would owe his presidency to him. Mutharika cannot even campaign on his own," says Blantyre businessman Ibrahim Wilson.
Mutharika seemed to give credence to this theory a few weeks ago when he declared that he would not follow the "Zambian option", a reference to that government's decision to charge former President Frank Chiluba for alleged abuse of state resources and massive corruption.
Although no one has ever produced any credible evidence of this, it is a widely held view among opposition parties that the UDF is a corrupt party and that Muluzi had used his presidency to enrich himself.
They point to a series of businesses he has set up over the past few years, including his Trade and Investment Bank, an office park and a newly formed media company. On Friday, he officially launched his private radio station, Joy Radio, and announced plans to set up a new commercial television station to compete with the state-owned Malawi Television.
Muluzi also owns the Bakili Bullets, a soccer team that is in South Africa this weekend to play Orlando Pirates in the African Champions League. Early this year, the team spent four weeks in England, at Muluzi's expense and, on at least two occasions, he bought all the tickets at a stadium to allow his supporters to watch Bullets games free.
His forays into the media business are seen as his Plan B, that is if Mutha rika fails to win the elections. If the opposition - which has already promised an investigation into Muluzi's business interest - wins, control of the state-owned media will fall into the hands of Muluzi's political enemies.
On Friday, Muluzi defended his business empire and blamed allegations of corruption levelled against him on "the pull-him-down syndrome" that he says the country suffers from.
"We should ask ourselves how come we do not own our own businesses in this country like they do in Tanzania and elsewhere. The major problem here is jealousy. Every time one of our own opens a business we are suspicious.
"The opposition is threatening to confiscate my office park but I am clean. I have never used state money to build my businesses. I borrowed money from an international bank," he told over a thousand supporters at the launch of his radio station.
But Chakuamba's supporters say it is precisely because of Muluzi's policies that foreigners, especially Asians, continue to control the economy.
Most of about 30 state-owned companies privatised over the past decade went into foreign hands - partly because there were no Malawians who could afford them.
The United Nations Development Programme revealed last month that poverty in Malawi had worsened over the past decade, with about 42% of the country's population living below the poverty line of a dollar a day.
Malawi used to be one of the main exporters of maize in Southern Africa. Today, it imports much of its maize from South Africa.
But Muluzi says he did his best: "Remember that when I took over in 1994 inflation was at about 98%; now we are talking about 9%. There has been a lot of improvement. But of course many of our people live below the poverty line as we are a very poor country. But we have done our best over the past 10 years," he says.
Whether his best is enough to convince voters to return the UDF to office will be clear when election results emerge later in the week. Already it looks like an uphill battle, especially as some of the hugely influential Christian churches are now calling on their followers not to vote UDF.
The churches, which include the Catholics, Anglicans and Presbyterians, say a vote for the UDF would lead to a further "Islamisation" of Malawi because although Mutharika is a Christian, his running mate is a "hard-line" Muslim. More than 70% of Malawians regard themselves as Christian.
Muluzi, himself a practising Muslim, and a number of Muslim organisations have criticised the churches' campaign. On Friday, Muluzi urged the broadcasting regulator to take action against church-owned radio stations that propagate this gospel.
Under Muluzi, religious freedom thrived, with all religious groups enjoying the same status. Even Jehovah's Witnesses, banned under Banda's rule, now have a strong presence in Malawi.
As in South Africa, where the outcome of last month's elections was a vote of confidence in the manner in which the ANC has ruled the country over the past decade, the election will show how Malawians feel about their first democratically elected president.