Central Region voter registration worries MCP

Opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) yesterday said several anomalies such as use of faulty equipment and understaffing which have marred the sixth phase of voter registration are denying many people in some parts of Central Region chance to register to vote in next year’s elections.

Speaking during a press conference at MCP headquarters in Lilongwe, MCP publicity secretary Dr. Jessie Kabwila said Malawi Electoral Commission’s delays to release results of the fifth phase of the registration process is raising fears of possible bloating of numbers of registered voters in that phase.

“We have noted with great concern the numerous and consistent voter registration anomalies and flaws that have characterised phase six of voter registration which covers areas in Dedza, Dowa, Lilongwe City and Mchinji. The faulty and unreliable equipment that has been deployed to Lilongwe City constituencies and most parts of Central Region is an area of concern,” said Kabwila.

She said many people, especially women, were failing to register, thereby denying them a chance to register and vote next year.

“We fear that the anomalies can [create a loophole] for rigging. We are, therefore, demanding immediate replacement of faulty equipment in the centres, and the release of registration figures of phase five,” said Kabwila.

MCP elections director Henry Kamata also alleged that voter registration books for Mangochi have been found in Lilongwe and Dowa, wondering why some people are also being ferried in trucks to register in areas such as Lumbadzi in Dowa.

But MEC spokesperson Sangwani Mwafulirwa yesterday said it was not true that the commission deliberately deployed faulty equipment to some registration centres in the Central Region, saying registration equipment sometimes develops faults.

On Mangochi registration papers being found in Lilongwe and Dowa, he said: “There are no registration papers for specific districts. What happens is that when the people conducting the registration have only used 10 out of 100 leaflets in a particular booklet at one centre, the other 90 leaflets are used when the team moves to another area.

“In this case, the people who are conducting the registration exercise in Lilongwe and Dowa are coming from Mangochi where they were registering voters in phase five,” said Mwafulirwa, adding that the commission is not cooking up any figures in the registration exercise.