By Pemphero Malimba:
The Office of the Registrar of Political Parties is operating with 12 personnel out of the required 34 authorised for the establishment, The Daily Times has established.
The office was established under the Political Parties Act of 2018.
It, among other things, registers political parties and is crucial to the effective implementation of provisions of the Act.
The Act includes prohibiting politicians from issuing handouts.
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Registrar of Political Parties Kizito Tenthani told The Daily Times that the officers were seconded from other government offices to assist in the start up processes of the office.
He was, however, quick to say the move was normal.
“You do not expect an office to start operating at full capacity. Institutional development takes time; it is a gradual process. But since the setting up of the office coincided with elections, where the office is expected to be active, we are trying to do our best within the limits of the resources that we have,” he said
This week, he told Times Radio that no politician had been penalised for engaging in issuing of handouts.
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Recently, the office told the local media that it had received over 30 complaints, where some politicians were alleged to have issued handouts to in some parts of the country.
In a written response to The Daily Times, Tenthani said the process of handling complaints takes time and that his office had no powers to issue instant sanctions.
“At this point, the issue is not about personnel. People should understand that the Registrar has no powers to issue instant sanctions. We need to investigate to establish culpability. The regulations give the Registrar up to seven days to admit a complaint and institute an investigation. The Registrar can also reject a complaint. If the Registrar makes a decision to institute an investigation, the regulations require that we give those alleged to have broken the law up to 30 days to submit a response,” Tenthani said.
He further said his office had enough resources to investigate complaints.
However, political and governance analyst Wonderful Mkhutche said having inadequate personnel at the office may force it to wait for a long time to conclude investigations.
“I would, therefore, ask the government to make sure that they equip the office with enough personnel,” he said.
Speaking to Times Radio this week, Chisankho Watch Chairperson Bishop Gilford Matonga said the tendency of issuing handouts would be addressed if authorities put much effort into enforcing the law.
“Enforcing the law is the only way to end the [practice of] issuing handouts. People who are violating the law need to be arrested, answer charges, get removed from their offices and, soon, politicians will not issue handouts any more. But this tendency cannot just be stopped; it’s hard without anyone getting punished,” Matonga said.
He said there was also a need for Malawians to denounce handouts.
“We, as Malawians, need to be seeking development projects that may benefit the whole community instead of benefitting specific individuals. We need to consider the needs of the country and spare our personal needs. Handouts cannot help develop Malawi,” he said.
