By Pemphero Malimba:
As the voter registration exercise for 2025 general elections starts Monday, opposition political parties have pressed for unspecified action following what the parties are calling the Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec)’s failure to address their concerns over several electoral processes.
On several occasions, some political parties, including the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), UTM and Alliance for Democracy (Aford), have been raising concerns over the introduction of election management devices (EMD), electronic transmission of results and irregularities in the national identity (ID) cards registration process.
Recent calls by the political parties were made last week at a press briefing in Lilongwe, where the political parties also raised concerns over a contract awarded to Smartmatic company for the supply of the EMDs.
UTM spokesperson Felix Njawala told The Daily Times on Saturday that it was unfortunate to note that the commission was forging ahead with the exercise without addressing their concerns.
“It is very unfortunate that they [Mec] are proceeding with the process because the concerns raised are valid and, as political parties not only in the opposition, we are interested in having all Malawians to vote because, according to our constitution, every citizen has a right to vote,” Njawala said.
He said the political parties were planning their next move, which he could not disclose.
“As political parties, we are discussing the issue [and] we know what we are going to do but if this election is for the people of Malawi, Mec must sit and heads must row at Mec and NRB [National Registration Bureau] to understand exactly what the consequences of such a decision can be. We will use all available options but we will not be restricted,” he said.
DPP spokesperson Shadric Namalomba pledged to make a surprise move.
“Watch us. I don’t want to preempt it; it is up to the government to do what it must do. We gave our ultimatums; so, let them do what we told them to do. So, watch us [in terms of] what we are going to do,” Namalomba said.
Aford secretary general Linda Limbe said proceeding with the exercise without addressing the concerns had the potential to lead to chaos in the country.
“The opposition will not stand idly by as electoral integrity is compromised. We believe that proceeding with voters’ registration amidst unresolved concerns will plunge Malawi into electoral chaos. Mec’s intransigence will spark unprecedented protests, uniting Malawians registration against electoral subversion.
“Our democracy’s legitimacy hinges on transparent and accountable processes. We will exhaust all avenues to safeguard electoral integrity, defending Malawi’s future against manipulation,” Limbe said.
Mec Chairperson, Judge Annabel Mtalimanja, has on several occasions insisted that the commission would go ahead with all planned electoral processes, starting with the registration exercise today.
Mtalimanja has been dismissing fears by the political parties saying the use of EMDs proved effective during pilot voter registration and that the awarding of a contract to Smartmatic was done with due diligence.
She also revealed that the commission had no plans of engaging independent information communication technology (ICT) auditors into its system, citing security reasons.
“We have explained is that our process remains transparent and our stakeholders, including political parties, are going to be part and parcel of the process. They are going to be able to audit the voters’ register once the process has begun. But we cannot grant access to the system itself because of security reasons,” she said.
On the other hand, NRB Principal Secretary Mphatso Sambo said some Malawians failed to register during the time the bureau was charging an amount for registration of the national ID.
Sambo, however, said the exercise was ongoing and that people may visit their offices for registration.
“We have opened offices across the country and we are planning to be available close to the people. So, as NRB, we are ready and are working with the Malawi Electoral Commission to ensure that we have given them a clean civil register where voter registration will be benchmarked,” Sambo said.
According to Sambo, the bureau has, so far, managed to register 12 million Malawians.
The voter registration exercise will be conducted in three phases, with phase one starting today up to November 3 2024.
The first phase will be carried out in Chitipa, Karonga, Karonga Town, Mzuzu City, Nkhotakota, Ntchisi, Salima, Dedza, Balaka, Machinga, Chiradzulu, Neno, Phalombe and Mulanje.
The second phase will be held from November 9 to 22 2024 in Nkhata Bay, Rumphi, Likoma, Kasungu, Kasungu Municipality, Dowa, Mchinji, Ntcheu, Zomba, Zomba City, Blantyre, Blantyre City, Thyolo and Luchenza.
The last phase will be carried out from November 28 to December 11 2024 in M’mbelwa (Mzimba), Lilongwe, Lilongwe City, Mangochi, Mangochi Municipality, Mwanza, Chikwawa and Nsanje.
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