59% political parties offline
The Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) has said it has no contact details for 27 out of 46 political parties that existed on the list of Registrar of Political Parties by the end of January this year.
Mec Chief Elections Officer, Sammy Alufandika, made the revelations in a statement as the electoral body seeks to update its records for the registered political parties in preparation for the launch of the 2019 Tripartite Elections.
Among the 27 parties whose contacts are nowhere to be seen, there are defunct political parties such as Maravi People’s Party (PP) of Uladi Mussa, who joined the People’s Party but got fired from the party last month, and Chipani cha Pfuko of the Democratic Progressive Party member Davis Katsonga.
“These parties are encouraged to furnish the secretariat with phone numbers and email addresses of their party president, secretary general, director of elections and publicity secretary,” Alufandika said.
Ironically, some parties including the Malawi Democratic Party of the current PP vice president for the Northern Region Kamlepo Kalua are still on the list of registered parties.
The two parties that the late Gwanda Chakuamba registered, the Republican Party and the New Republican Party, are also part of the list.
But the 2017 Political Parties Act stipulates that all political parties that do not participate in elections or hold conventions are supposed to be deregistered.
Alufandika said Mec will soon be announcing full details of the launch of the 2019 Tripartite Elections.
A vibrant writer who gives a great insight on hot topics and issues
