By Samuel Kalimira, Ousman Kaliati, Cathy Maulidi & Blessings Tambala:
The voter registration exercise, being conducted in preparation for the September 16 2025 Local Government, Parliamentary and Presidential Elections, started on a good note in the majority of targeted areas.
However, challenges marred the exercise in some registration centres, notably Mchepa in Salima District, after it was discovered that it was not appearing anywhere on the list of registered centres.
In the Northern Region, where the first phase of registration is happening in Chitipa, Karonga, Karonga Town and Mzuzu City, we found a good number of people flocking to centres.
However, youths were outnumbered.
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Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) registration supervisor at Mzuzu CCAP centre Catherine Chisenga said they opened at 8am, expressing satisfaction with the turnout.
Chisenga said the centre did not register any challenge on the first day of the exercise.
“We just hope that many people will turn out to register. It is a 14-day exercise,” Chisenga said.
However, at St. Augustine Centre in Mzuzu North Constituency, some monitors expressed concern over delays by one machine to capture the biometrics of potential voters.
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This notwithstanding, some would-be voters, notably Edward Nkhambule of Lubinga Township, said the process was faster than during previous exercises.
Meanwhile, Livingstonia Synod of the CCAP General Secretary Reverend William Tembo has asked members of the church to register in large numbers, saying it is their constitutional right.
“We have told church leaders to encourage their members to register because that will help them to have a chance to exercise their voting right next year,” Tembo said.
In all the centres, National Registration Bureau (NRB) officers were serving those who lost their national identity (ID) cards.
Everything took place under the watchful eye of Malawi Police Service personnel.
In Machinga District in the Southern Region, the exercise started on a good note, with enthusiastic crowds flocking to registration centres.
At Malundani Registration Centre, for instance, we found registrants—that is, the elderly, women and youths—on queues, waiting for their turn to register.
Supervisor Godfrey Chimenya said they were impressed with the turnout.
“By 9am, we had already registered 80-plus people.
“The queues are growing each passing hour as people turn up to register,” Chimenya said.
Among the early registrants was Member of Parliament (MP) for Machinga North East Ajiru Kalitendere, who was seen registering at Malundani Registration Centre.
However, centres in Liwonde Township—notably St. Theresa and Liwonde Primary School— reported low turnout during the morning hours of Monday.
According to the Machinga District Mec office, the district has 259 voter registration centre’s.
In Salima District, voter registration was marred by reports that Mchepa Registration Centre was not appearing on the list of centres.
The area is under Senior Chief Mwanza in Salima North Constituency
However, Mec Chairperson Annabel Mtalimanja assured stakeholders that the absence of the centre would not hinder the registration process.
Mtalimanja said this after inspecting registration centres in the district.
She said while the centre had been gazetted, it was later found to be unresponsive in the system.
Consequently, Mec advised community members near Mchepa centre to register at nearby centres.
“We have informed all communities surrounding Mchepa Registration Centre in the area of Senior Chief Mwanza in Salima to go and register at nearby centres due to this challenge we have encountered,” Mtalimanja said.
She also stressed the importance of political parties sending representatives to registration centres to ensure transparency and accountability of the process.
“We are not forcing political party representatives to be present at the centres but for the registration process to be accountable, it is essential for each party to have a representative,” she said.
On her part, Salima District National Initiative for Civic Education Public Trust Officer Queen Mataya noted that there was a high turnout of people.
“The turnout is promising, and the process has begun with only minor challenges, which is commendable. We, as Nice, will continue to monitor the process until its completion,” Mataya stated.
Weighing in on the issue, Salima District Commissioner James Mwenda reaffirmed the council’s commitment to ensuring that registration is conducted fairly and freely.
Salima District has 187 voter registration centres.
Meanwhile, non-State actor Oxfam has lawmakers to consider amending Section 4 of the Presidential, Parliamentary, and Local Government Elections Act of 2023 in order to have the voter registration period extended.
The current legislation allows voter registration to take place in a space of two weeks, a period that Oxfam Country Director Lingalireni Mihowa has described as short for every eligible voter to get registered.
Speaking during a stakeholders’ engagement with Mec officials, Mihowa said the short duration of registration could lead to some would-be voters failing to register.
“The registration period needs extension, but we acknowledge Mec is bound by law, which stipulates a minimum of 14 days. We urge a review, as two weeks is extremely short. Early rains have commenced, engaging many in agricultural activities and diverting their attention from the voter registration.”
“Additionally, some areas may become impassable due to the rains, hindering Mec’s timely setup,” Mihowa said.
However, Mtalimanja said the legal framework did not allow them to extend the period beyond the duration stipulated in laws.
Oxfam also urged Mec to further reduce nomination fees for women by between 60 and 75 percent and extend similar reductions to youth candidates.
Currently, Mec has already implemented a 50 percent fee reduction for women and persons with disabilities, and 25 percent for youths.
Oxfam, in partnership with the Women’s Legal Resource Centre and funded by the European Union, hosted the engagement as part of its ‘2025 Ndi Ifeyo’ project, an initiative which aims to empower women, youths and persons with disabilities to participate in the 2025 elections.
