As the country moves towards the 2025 tripartite elections, the Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) chairperson Chifundo Kachale has challenged stakeholders to stop thinking that every incident that happens during elections is for the Commission to solve.
He called on stakeholders to play their rightful role.
He also quashed the thinking that appointment of politicians into the Commission will have an effect on the operations of the electoral body or results of the elections.
“Not every incident that happens during elections is for Mec. If political parties commit criminal acts during elections, law enforcement agencies should do their work. That is not the work for the Commission,” Kachale said in response to the feedback to his presentation made during a two-day national peace conference in Lilongwe.
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He also challenged the participants that appointment of politicians into the commission cannot be avoided based on the country’s system which allows it.
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But he assured that political appointees into the Commission do not compromise the body’s operations because the chairperson is appointed from the Judiciary where the appointee does not have a political leaning.
“Commissioners are appointed by political parties. It would be naïve to think that their relationship with the parties stops once they become commissioners. The way the commission operates, it goes by consensus,” Kachale said, adding that politics does not dominate Mec’s operations.
He also disclosed that so far, six civil society organisations (CSOS) have been identified to conduct civic education for the 2025 tripartite elections.
He said the six will be funded through the basket fund and Mec will manage the messages. However, Centre for Democracy and Elections (Cede) has described the six as not enough CSOs to conduct civic education for the 2025 elections.
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“We need more CSOs to participate in civic education so that there is adequate national coverage of all areas. We appeal to development partners to support the work of civil society which is crucial in attaining transparent and credible elections. More CSOs need to be supported,” Cede team leader Aloisious Nthenda said.
Last month, the European Union provided about K3.5 billion towards the 2025 elections basket fund, making it the largest contributor to the $8.324 million basket fund.
The United Kingdom also contributed about K2.5 billion towards the Malawi Electoral Support Project to support Mec deliver the 2025 elections in accordance with the high standards set by legislative reforms following the previous elections.
