At the height of emotions of the September 16 elections, police told the nation that they had arrested eight data entry clerks at a constituency tally centre in Lilongwe over allegations of data manipulation. They said the arrest followed their investigation into an attempted suicide by a Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) official responsible for the constituency. Today, no one seems to have the details. And the judiciary has no record of the case either.
A month after police said they had arrested eight elections’ data entry clerks in Lilongwe over alleged electoral misconduct, authorities remain tight-lipped about the progress of the case.
Neither is anyone providing their names.
Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) has said it did not have a hand in the arrests.
And on the pile of over 80 elections-related cases, the Judiciary still does not have any record of this particular matter today.
On September 19, while vote counting was still in progress. police said they had arrested the eight people on allegations of manipulating elections data.
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National Police spokesperson Peter Kalaya said in a statement that they had arrested the eight at Nkhoma Constituency Tally Centre in Lilongwe where they were working as data entry clerks.
Kalaya said the arrest followed investigations the Malawi Police Service was conducting on an attempted suicide case involving a Mec Constituency Returning Officer for Lilongwe Nkhoma Constituency, Clement Chikankha.
A police report said Chikankha had attempted to take his life on September 18 by throwing himself in a sewage dam for having “failed to deliver well on his position as a Constituency Returning Officer”.
At Mec press briefings during the elections, police did not give the names but assured it was handling the matter.
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We followed it up with the Malawi Police Service, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Mec itself this week but none has provided information indicating any progress on the case.
In a written response, Mec spokesperson Sangwani Mwafulirwa said the Commission had no hand in the arrests and that the police acted independently on the matter.
“The arrests were made entirely at the discretion of the Malawi Police Service, acting within their legal mandate to investigate suspected criminal conduct,” Mwafulirwa said.
“The Commission was not involved in the arrests and does not have custody of the individuals concerned. We therefore advise that you contact the Malawi Police Service for official updates.”
When contacted, Kalaya said he needed “more time” for a response.
But the lack of progress on the matter is subject of concern for electoral activists.
Benedicto Kondowe, chairperson of the Civil Society Elections Integrity Forum, which called for swift investigations on the matter when it happened, said yesterday that this prolonged silence risks damaging public confidence in elections.
“This case goes to the heart of electoral integrity. Since the arrests, there has been no update from the police, DPP or Mec.
“That silence risks creating suspicion that the matter is being quietly sidelined despite its significance,” Kondowe said.
He urged authorities to handle such cases transparently and promptly to demonstrate that no one is above the law.
Boniface Chibwana, Executive Director for Centre for Multiparty Democracy, shared similar concerns, warning that delays in handling election-related cases weaken faith in the justice system.
“Electoral cases should be expedited so that electoral healing takes place in good time. The Judiciary was part of the Malawi Electoral Support Programme, meaning there were mechanisms in place to handle these matters swiftly,” Chibwana said.
He added that Malawians deserve to know the outcome of such cases as they directly affect confidence in both the justice system and future elections.
However, we have established that the courts still do not have any record of the case yet, according to Judiciary spokesperson Ruth Mputeni.
She confirmed yesterday that while the courts have so far received 83 election-related court petitions so far, this one is not among them.
“Forty-three of these were filed before voting day, seven came during or immediately after voting, and thirty-three were submitted after the official declaration of results.
“Forty-two cases have already been handled. The remaining ones have been assigned to judges across all registries,” she said.
The incident was among those that formed the basis of the attempt by the Malawi Congress Party for Mec to nullify the results.
It claimed that the arrests were evidence of electoral malpractice that may have undermined the fairness of the polls.
