Watu walimchagua mtawala mpya.

It can be broken into wa-li-m-chagua:

• wa- = subject marker for they / a class 2 plural human subject
• -li- = past tense
• -m- = object marker for a singular human / class 1 noun
• chagua = choose

So the verb literally packs in something like they + past + him/her + choose.

In this sentence, the -m- refers to mtawala.

That -m- is an object marker. In Swahili, it is very common to mark the object inside the verb, especially when the object is a person or something specific.

So walimchagua mtawala mpya is not really repeating two different objects. The -m- and mtawala mpya point to the same object.

For an English speaker, this can feel strange because English does not usually do this. Swahili often does.

Grammatically, yes: -m- is the class 1 object marker, which often corresponds to him or her.

But in this sentence, you normally would not translate it as a separate English pronoun. It is just agreeing with mtawala mpya.

So the natural translation is still simply:

• People chose the new ruler
• or, depending on context, The people chose a new ruler

not People chose him/her the new ruler.

It is in the past tense.

The marker -li- shows past time:

• walichagua = they chose
• walimchagua = they chose him/her / they chose that person

So the action happened in the past.

Because the subject is watu, which is a plural human noun.

In Swahili, verbs must agree with their subject. For class 2 plural humans, the subject marker is wa-.

So:

• watu walichagua = people chose

Even when the subject noun is stated, the verb still needs its agreement marker.

Swahili does not have articles like English a, an, and the.

That means watu can mean:

• people
• the people

And mtawala mpya can mean:

• a new ruler
• the new ruler

The exact meaning depends on context.

In Swahili, adjectives usually come after the noun.

So:

• mtawala mpya = new ruler
• literally, ruler new

Also, the adjective must agree with the noun class. Here mtawala is singular class 1, so mpya is the correct agreeing form.

Compare:

• mtawala mpya = new ruler
• watawala wapya = new rulers

Mtawala means ruler, governor, or leader, depending on context.

Its plural is watawala.

This noun is related to the verb tawala, meaning rule or govern.

So:

• mtawala = ruler
• watawala = rulers
• kutawala = to rule / to govern

Mostly yes. This sentence follows the basic Subject–Verb–Object order:

• Watu = subject
• walimchagua = verb
• mtawala mpya = object

So in that sense it is quite familiar to an English speaker.

The main differences are:

• Swahili verbs carry a lot of grammatical information inside them
• adjectives usually come after the noun
• Swahili has no a/the

Yes. Chagua basically means choose or select, but in political or leadership contexts it can often be translated as elect.

So depending on the situation, this sentence could be understood as:

• People chose the new ruler
• The people elected the new ruler

Both are possible, depending on the context already given.