Controversy has rocked Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) nominee to the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) Mackford Somanje after a leaked letter from the National Council for Higher Education (Nche) put a dent on his academic credentials.
But DPP yesterday said the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC), where it sent the name of the recommended nominee, is yet to officially communicate to the party about Somanje’s status as its choice for MEC commissioner.
DPP nominated Somanje—an information and communication technology (ICT) professional—to fill the vacancy created by Francis Kasaila who resigned in April this year to contest in parliamentary elections.
A letter from Nche to OPC legal adviser Chizaso Nyirongo, which went viral on social media yesterday, alleged that Somanje’s purported Bachelor of Science in Computer Science credentials from University of South Africa (Unisa) in June 1994 was bogus.
The letter, dated July 8 2025 and signed by Nche chief executive officer Ambumulire Itimu Phiri, followed Nyirongo’s request asking the council to verify accreditation status of Somanje’s academic qualifications.
“According to Unisa, Somanje did not register for any subjects with the institution despite the student number being created on December 17 2004. Nche has further been informed by Unisa that the wording, fonts, signatory and crests of the certificate presented to us do not match a 1994 Unisa certificate,” reads the letter.
But in an interview yesterday, DPP spokesperson Shadric Namalomba said the party was yet to get feedback from OPC on its query.
“We wrote a follow-up letter on July 14 2025 to OPC. Nche is not a party to the appointment of commissioners. We, therefore, cannot specifically and directly comment on their letter to OPC. That said, we are still hopeful that our nominee commissioner will be appointed,” he said.
OPC chief communications officer Geoffrey Kawangasaid DPP was communicated thatrequirements were not fulfilled.
He saidDPP can submit a fresh nomination.
In a letter to OPC dated July 14 2025, DPP secretary general Peter Mukhito asked Nyirongo to explain why Somanje was not appointed as MEC commissioner.
In a separate interview yesterday, Civil Society Elections Integrity Forum chairperson Benedicto Kondowe said there were no legal implications for not having the remaining commissioner since Section 75 (1) of the Constitution stipulates not fewer than four commissioners, excluding the chairperson.
He said with a composition of five, the commission was fully constituted and its authority stands, adding that Section 10 of the Electoral Commission Act expressly provides that a vacancy does not render decisions of the commission a nullity.
But Centre for Multiparty Democracy executive director Boniface Chibwana said politically it is important to have equal numbers of MEC commissioners to balance decision-making machinations.
On June 12 2025, President Lazarus Chakwera reappointed three commissioners on recommendation from their respective parties in accordance with Section 75 (1) of the Constitution and Section 4 (1) of the MEC Act.
The three are Richard Chapweteka representing Malawi Congress Party and Emmanuel Fabiano alongside Caroline Mfune from DPP.
