By Rebecca Chimjeka Matemba, Isaac Salima and Blessings Makuwira:
The Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) on Wednesday conducted a dry run of its Results Management System (RMS) at the National Tally Centre in Lilongwe and other parts of the country, pledging transparency and credibility in the handling of election results on September 16, 2025.
Speaking during the exercise, Mec Commissioner Limbikani Kamlongera said the dry run was designed to test the functionality, speed, accuracy and reliability of the RMS before it is deployed on polling day.
“Excellence demands preparation. We cannot wait for election day to test the system for the first time. This dry run is about being double-sure that both the technology and the people who will operate it are ready,” Kamlongera said.
She said Mec values transparency, stressing that elections are about trust.
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“Citizens must trust that their vote counts. Political parties must trust that the system treats them fairly. Civil society and the media must trust that the process is open to scrutiny,” she said.
Mec assured stakeholders that the RMS has been equipped with safeguards to address fears of manipulation, with encrypted results transmission, limited access for authorised staff and audit trails to account for every action.
The commission further indicated that the dry run was not the final demonstration but part of a series of preparations leading up to election day.
“If challenges arise during this test, that is not failure; it is an opportunity to correct weaknesses before Malawians vote,” she said.
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Meanwhile, some opposition political parties have said they are not satisfied with the process.
A representative of the Democratic Progress Party, Mackford Somanje, said they would consult on the issue.
“We will go back to our elders and inform them about the process and they will map the way forward,” Somanje said.
But Kamlongera said their dry run has been successful, adding that, if any party was not satisfied, it could write the electoral body on the issue.
She therefore extended gratitude to stakeholders for their support, noting that credible elections require collective effort.
The dry run comes amid heightened public scrutiny over the handling of election results. The Commission said it hopes such open exercises will strengthen public trust and ensure that the September elections are peaceful, transparent, and credible.
In Blantyre City, network challenges affected the transmission of results.
The exercise was conducted in 10 constituency centres in the city.
When we visited some centres in the city, officials told us that network problems were affecting the transmission of results to the district tally centre at Blantyre Secondary School.
The exercise was supposed to end at 4pm but, by that time, some centres were yet to transmit results to the district tally centre.
Renowned political commentator Boniface Dulani, whom we found at Blantyre Secondary School, said he was impressed with how the exercise went but raised an alarm on network fears.
“It seems that we are relying on network from Airtel and TNM. However, I have noticed that there have been delays to transmit the results. They have assured us that they will look into it. The other issue is about batteries which will be used on Elections Management Devices. They are saying that there will be backup,” he said.
Mec Commissioner Emmanuel Fabiano said that some of the identified challenges would be addressed.
