Average turn out in Lilongwe by-election
Constituents of Lilongwe South Thursday went to polls after waiting for eight months since the parliamentary election were postponed in May 2019.
In the by-election, 33,459 people were expected to cast their votes in 27 polling stations that Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) had set aside.
However, an average voter turnout characterised most of the polling centres, as some only recorded half of the registered voters.
For instance at 4:40 o’clock in the evening at Kaweche Primary School, only 388 out of 788 registered voters cast their votes.
At Phirilanjuzi and Katete primary schools, Mec officials confirmed receiving half of the registered voters.
Mec Commissioner Jean Mathanga, who visited the centre, said she was impressed with the turnout in the morning.
One of the voters, Frosy Jokal said the members of community were happy to finally participate in the election of their representative.
“There are a lot of developments that we need such as hospitals and clean water but we could not get any because we didn’t have anyone representing us in Parliament,” she said.
Malawi Congress Party (MCP) candidate, Peter Dimba who is defending the seat, said he hopes to retain the seat.
“Campaigning for a year has not been easy. It has been pocket-draining and sometimes frustrating but I hope to defend the seat and I expect professionalism from Mec,” he said.
Other candidates that competed in the election were Democratic Progressive Party’s Frank Mazizi, Mbakuwaku Movement for Development’s Julius Grecian and independents Samson Phinifolo and Patson Mthyoka.
Mec was unable to hold the by-election during the May 21 Tripartite Elections following the death of UTM candidate Agnes Penemulungu a few weeks before elections day.
