As the country moves closer to the 2025 elections, the government has taken steps to employ a Registrar of Political Parties, marking the first time since operationalisation of the Political Parties Act in December 2018.
Parties have not been complying with the law on the basis of the absence of the Registrar of Political Parties.
Through recently released Civil Service Commission vacancies, the government is calling for applicants.
“Applicants should be in possession of a Bachelor’s Degree in any of the following fields: Law, Social Science or Political Science obtained from [an] accredited institution with at least 10 years post-qualification experience; (b) have sufficient knowledge of political systems; (c) within the last seven years not have been convicted by a competent court of a crime involving dishonesty or moral turpitude; (d) have not been declared bankrupt; (e) [do] not hold any other public office,” the vacancy reads.
Among other things, the Political Parties Act bans the practice of giving handouts by politicians and calls for disclosure of party financing.
In the just ended meeting of Parliament, Justice Minister Titus Mvalo gave a brief statement relating to the prohibition of handouts.
Mvalo said, as elections are fast approaching, there is a need to implement regulations on prohibition of handouts, further arguing that the culture of handouts exposes politicians to corrupt and unscrupulous financiers.
“The operationalisation of the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties is critical to the effective implementation of the Political Parties Act. As I mentioned the last time I addressed the House on this subject matter, the Office of Registrar General, which currently acts as the Registrar of Political Parties, has neither the resources nor capacity to effectively execute the functions that the ORPP is expected to perform,” he said.
Meanwhile, Centre for Multiparty Democracy Executive Director Kizito Tenthani has described the development as a step in the right direction ahead of the 2025 elections.
“This is a positive move from the authorities. Hopefully, the office will be capacitated to carry out the role it is supposed to carry out,” he said.
Last year, the Malawi Law Society dragged to court Registrar of Companies Chikumbutso Namelo, in his capacity as Registrar of Political Parties, for failing to provide records of political financing in line with provisions of the Act.
MLS wrote Namelo twice last year—on July 20 and September 30—asking for records of political party funding and the Ministry of Justice’s state of compliance with the Act on the creation of an independent office of Registrar of Political Parties.
