Two key disability rights bodies have urged political parties to promote inclusive campaign messages to enable people with disabilities make informed decisions in the elections process.
The Federation of Disability Organisations (Fedoma) and Malawi National Association of the Deaf (Manad), have observed that most political parties are not accommodating people with disabilities in their September 16 2025 General Election campaign messaging.
According to Fedoma, people with disabilities form about 11.6 percent of the country’s population, and they, too, have a constitutional right to political participation.
In an interview yesterday, Fedoma executive director Simon Munde said no political party has considered people with hearing impairment, who also need information on what candidates or parties will do once elected into power.
He added that the positioning of posters carrying election messages also matter, as they have to consider people in wheelchairs and be packaged in a font that is readable by all.
Said Munde: “This time around, no political party is actually demonstrating serious commitment in terms of sign language interpretation. They don’t know that by ignoring that element, they are losing out on voters.”
Manad executive director Bryson Chimenya called on politicians to use sign language interpreters in their campaign rallies to ensure that people with hearing impairment get the messages.
He said if there are challenges to get interpreters, political parties should contact Manad for assistance.
“Most deaf people vote based on how famous the person is not because of the messages they put across.
“In addition, most deaf people are not educated, which makes reading of campaign messages in newspapers and other media platforms difficult,” said Chimenya.
Meanwhile, political scientist George Chaima has agreed with the groups that political parties have not done well on inclusive campaign.
He said people with disabilities have a right to vote and they can only vote effectively if they have correct and accurate information.
When contacted, United Democratic Front spokesperson Dyson Jangia said the party values inclusivity, especially for people hearing and visual impairments.
People’s Party secretary general Ben Chakhame also said the party has packaged messages for easy access by people with visual impairments, and that it is putting in place measures to reach out to other marginalised groups.
On her part, Alliance for Democracy spokesperson Annie Amatullah Maluwa said the party will be engaging sign language interpreters in its campaigns to ensure people with hearing impairment are reached with messages.
