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Tension mars by-elections

 

While voting in some parts of the country generally proceeded peacefully, hostility swallowed up the exercise in Mchinji West Constituency and Bunda Ward in Kasungu yesterday.

In Mchinji West, irate monitors chased away personal assistant (PA) of Vice-President Saulos Chilima at Kamwendo Trading Centre and stoned a government vehicle which he was using.

The PA identified as Moses Kuchingale was seen going around polling centres using a government vehicle while putting on a badge and jacket branded Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC).

Vote counting underway at Mchinji Boma last night
Vote counting underway at Mchinji Boma last night

Further, a MEC polling clerk at one of the centres was detained by police after he was allegedly spotted interacting intimately with some politicians in the course of duty.

At Kasungu LEA Primary School in Bunda Ward, Malawi Congress Party (MCP) parliamentarian Amon Nkhata was reportedly ordered out of the premises by irate Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and United Democratic Front (UDF) monitors on suspicion that he wanted to influence vote rigging.

Nkhata, who is MP for Kasungu Central Constituency, reportedly arrived at the school around 5:45am to monitor school block maintenance works, according to a source.

Last evening, MEC spokesperson Richard Mveriwa confirmed the two Mchinji incidents, but said the commission was investigating the Kuchingale matter. He also said the MEC official was sacked after the episode.

He said: “We are still investigating the matter as to how the VP’s personal assistant managed to get hold of the MEC attire to use it and his intention in doing whatever he did.

“As for the polling clerk, after the police intervention he was immediately booted out of the exercise.”

However, Mveriwa said generally voting went on smoothly and the turnout was good in most of the polling centres in all the five districts.

The Nation checks, however, revealed that there was voter apathy in Bembeke Ward in Dedza where out of the 50 000 registered voters, less than half cast their votes.

For Sadzi Ward in Zomba, chief executive officer for Zomba City, Dyson Jangia, said in an interview the voting exercise went on well with no serious challenges recorded.

He said: “The turnout was very good, very unlike of a by-election which is usually associated with poor turnout. Electorates came out in their large numbers and everything was done in a peaceful manner and we expect the best after the counting.”

In Mchinji, few people came to vote for a parliamentarian to replace Billy Kanjira Banda of MCP who died in March this year.

MEC approved 27 candidates to contest in the by-elections which included four for Mchinji West Constituency,  representing the MCP, DPP, PP and an independent aspirant.

Bunda Ward in Kasungu had five contestants, three for DPP, UDF and MCP and two independents.

Bembeke Ward in Dedza had the highest number of contestants, three independents while five others represented MCP, UDF, PP, DPP and MUP.

Sadzi Ward had seven candidates comprising three independents while the others belonged to the DPP, MCP, PP and UDF while Kaliyeka Ward in Lilongwe had three contestants for MCP, DPP and PP.

In separate interviews, UDF spokesperson Ken Ndanga and MCP deputy secretary general Eisenhower Mkaka said they were generally happy with how the voting exercise had been conducted.

According to Mveriwa, MEC is scheduled to announce the official results from the five districts this afternoon in Blantyre. n

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