Main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) says opposition parties have not given up on the push for an independent ICT audit of the election management system (EMS), saying the next course of action will be demonstrations.
Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) recently rejected a joint proposal by five opposition parties to conduct an independent audit of its Election Management System (EMS), citing constitutional independence, legal insufficiency, and technical inaccuracies in the proposed scope.
However, the decision did not go down well with the concerned parties, namely DPP, Alliance for Democracy (Aford), United Democratic Front (UDF), People’s Party (PP) and UTM Party, who expressed reservations with MEC’s position.
In an interview yesterday, DPP organising secretary Sameer Suleman said the opposition is strategising on demonstrations and will soon announce dates for holding them.
He said: “An independent ICT audit is the only way to assure us and other stakeholders that the MEC system is clean. MEC has faced many challenges starting from voter registration, verification and other processes hence we want to be assured that everything is in place.
“We are not saying it is the opposition parties that will do the audit. The audit will be done by independent auditors. We want to know what is in the system, and if the voters roll that MEC has been providing is the same one in the system. That way we will be assured that system is OK.”
Speaking earlier, PP secretary general Ben Chakhame said a plan B is being worked on after MEC rejected the audit request.
He said there are several options on the table to have the matter addressed, adding the party wants to ensure that the elections are conducted in a manner acceptable to all or most Malawians.
UDF spokesperson Dyson Jangiya said the party is yet to make a decision on the way forward after MEC rejected the request for an audit of the system.
However, he said the UDF is not satisfied with the reasons MEC cited for not granting access to system for an audit, adding that like other opposition parties they expect MEC to be transparent and an audit is an assurance that everything is OK.
Aford spokesperson Annie Amatullah Maluwa also said MEC should have allowed an audit to build transparency in the election, adding thAT Aford NEC will meet soon on the way forward.
Meanwhile, MEC spokesperson Sangwani Mwafulirwa has said the electoral body remains committed to operating transparently and engaging constructively with all electoral stakeholders to build trust and confidence in the electoral process.
He said MEC previously responded to the request for an ICT audit, but no political party has written or engaged MEC after its response.
“Since we provided our written response to them, there is no political party that has engaged the commission on the same, so we take it that our responses were satisfying,” said Mwafulirwa.
He also assured the public that MEC is working to deliver a free, fair, inclusive, and credible election.
Based on their submission to MEC, the opposition parties stated that the objectives of the audit were; to assess the security architecture and controls of all election-related digital systems; evaluate data integrity, voter registration databases, and transmission protocols; validate compliance with local and international standards for electoral technologies; detect and report vulnerabilities weaknesses that could impact electoral credibility; and recommend improvements to enhance system reliability, transparency and public trust.
The request, submitted on May 23 2025, called for a forensic-style audit of the EMS, raising concerns about data anomalies, system integrity and the credibility of the 2025 electoral process.
