Pre-election observers under African Centre for Governance (ACG) and Electoral Commissions Forum of Southern African Development Community countries (ECF-Sadc) have advised Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) to build public trust.
In separate missions ahead of the September 16 General Election in the country, ACG and ECF-Sadc said their missions to Malawi from May 12 to May 16 2025 and June 4 to June 8 2025 respectively assessed the level of preparedness of MEC and electoral stakeholders and evaluate areas of support.
The ACG missions on was headed by its regional executive director Tumelo Maxwell Mokoena and locally coordinated by ACG Malawi office country director Cathie Matura with support from two independent election experts, Abigail Mncube and Rinos Tshino.
A report shared by the mission said it found that the participation of President Lazarus Chakwera and former presidents Peter Mutharika and Joyce Banda has heightened political intensity, making the polls “particularly consequential”.
Reads the report: “This increased attention has placed MEC under immense pressure to ensure a credible, transparent, and well-managed electoral process that upholds democratic integrity.
“While the commission’s technical preparations are progressing, the mission notes that perceptions of mistrust and suspicion persist among certain stakeholders.”
The assessment called for strengthened engagement between MEC and electoral actors, noting that recent efforts towards dialogue represent positive steps.
On its part, the ECF-Sadc led by Justice Barnabas Nyamadzabo, who i s chairperson of Botswana’s Independent Electoral Commission, urged MEC to accelerate efforts to build public confidence and trust in the integrity of the electoral process.
In a written response yesterday, he said MEC’s rejection of a request by political parties to audit the election management system was one of the concerns raised by stakeholders.
He said there is need to enhance voter sensitisation to address the perceived information gap in relation to public understanding of new technology, including the hybrid transmission of results.
Said Nyamadzabo: “The nullification of the 2019 presidential elections contributes to the public’s uncertainty of the delivery of credible elections and other perceptions, including the trust deficit on MEC. This is the reason we have recommended stakeholder engagement and confidence building by MEC.”
Eu r o p e an Un i o n (EU) Ambassador Rune Skinnebach said their exploratory mission, which was independent from the EU Delegation, held meetings with a range of election stakeholders in April 2025 with the purpose of assessing the usefulness, feasibility and advisability of deploying an election observer mission.
“A lack of trust in the responsible institutions would be of concern, especially if there is a risk of a protracted process with a high degree of polarisation and tension,” he said in a written response.
ECF-Sadc is an independent organisation comprising election management bodies of the Sadc member States and promotes best practices in electoral management.
In a separate interview, MEC director of media and public relations Sangwani Mwafulirwa said the commission has strived to be transparent with information and reiterated that it has everything planned out for a second election.
“We have a budget for a rerun and money will be provided. Political parties, civil society, media and the public have praised MEC for being very transparent in giving out information. We think they are the better judges,” he said.
MEC has constantly mentioned misinformation as one factor that can negatively impact the election.
