By Mercy Matonga:
The High Court sitting in Blantyre will today hear a case challenging the use of national identity (ID) cards by the Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) during the voter registration process.
This follows an application made by George Chipwaira, Godfrey Banda, Alex Philip Dimba, James Chitsulo and Crino Masulani on October 10 2024.
“Let the claimant, through counsel, attend before The Honourable Justice [Mandala] Mambulasa in chambers on the 21st day of October 2024 at 14:30 in the afternoon, on the hearing of an application by the claimants for an injunction restraining the defendant from enforcing its decision to implement the provisions of Section 12 of the Presidential, Parliamentary, and Local Government Elections Act, 2023,” the notice reads.
The provision in question mandates Mec to accept only the national ID as the sole qualifier/identifier of individuals for registration to vote in public elections governed under that Act.
According to court documents seen by The Daily Times, the five applicants made the case after failing to obtain national ID cards in their area during the registration exercise.
The five argue that the registration process was mismanaged, resulting in some citizens being unable to obtain a national ID, which is now required for voter registration.
“Wherefore, I humbly pray to this Honourable Court for an order of injunction restraining the Defendant from implementing its decision to enforce the provisions of section 12 of the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections Act, 2023 which mandates the Malawi Electoral Commission to only accept the national identity card as the sole qualifier/identifier of individuals for registration to vote in public elections governed under that Act, until the determination of this matter or until a further order of this court,” the statement reads.
During the launch of the September 16 2025 Local Government, Parliamentary and Presidential elections, Mec Chairperson, Judge Annabel Mtalimanja, announced that, in accordance with Section 12 of the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections Act, every person registering on the voters’ roll is required to provide proof of citizenship registration with the National Registration Bureau (NRB).
“Therefore, I urge all those who have not yet registered for citizenship to do so now and not wait until the voter registration period begins. For those whose citizenship cards are lost or misplaced, they should obtain a replacement card to register. Those whose citizenship cards have expired should not worry, as they will still be allowed to register on the voters’ roll, even if the card’s validity period has expired,” Mtalimanja said.
However, opposition parties have complained that the registration exercise has not gone well, especially in the Southern Region, where they claim that many people faced challenges with registration.
During a recent press conference, three opposition parties, through Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesperson Shadric Namalomba, expressed disappointment with how Mec was handling the electoral process.
“There are instances where their machines have not performed satisfactorily, particularly in areas that are strongholds for opposition parties.
On the contrary, NRB has ensured that the registration process runs smoothly in areas that are predominantly strongholds of the MCP,” Namalomba said.
0 Comments