Former Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) commissioner Anthony Mukumbwa has defended MEC chairperson Annabel Mtalimanja and chief elections officer (CEO) Andrew Mpesi, saying they cannot be targeted as MEC is collectively run by six commissioners and a chairperson.
He said in a statement on Wednesday that no commissioner, chairperson or CEO alone can make and implement decisions unilaterally as that would be illegal.
Mukumbwa has since advised those pushing for the duo’s resignation to find their own experts to conduct detailed risk assessments for each electoral process starting f rom voting, counting, transmission, determination and announcement of results.
He cautioned that they should strengthen their monitoring systems at all levels of the electoral processes, as opposed to focusing on demonstrations or calls for resignation.
He advised adversaries of the current MEC to seek legal redress by particularly pushing for the removal of the entire commission, instead of selecting two people who, he said, on their own cannot make decisions.
“Let all people calling for the resignation of the chair and CEO note that there are sections in our electoral laws that spell out how these can be removed; obviously, it is not through demonstrations but by legal means.
“You will demonstrate until you demonstrate no more, but these two cannot be removed by those means. It did not happen with former MEC chairperson Jane Ansah, and it will not happen now,” he said.
He further observed that it would be ironic for the Malawi Congress Party and Democratic Progressive Party— the two political parties whose commissioners make up the current MEC—protesting against MEC, saying that would be a vote of no confidence in their own commissioners.
Said Mukumbwa: “This is not the case as both parties have renewed contracts of commissioners, meaning that they are doing a good job, including the selection of the Smartmatic devices. You cannot renew someone’s contract while rejecting their work.”
But reacting to Mukumbwa’s sentiments, coordinator of the demonstrations against Mtalimanja and Mpesi in Mzuzu Gomezgani Nkhoma said they have had several engagements with MEC which, he said, have yielded nothing.
He said: “Last time we held demonstrations and delivered a petition. We asked for an independent audit into the system but MEC deliberately ignored our call. If there will be an engagement, it should be MEC engaging us, not the other way round.”
Nkhoma also rejected Mukumbwa’s suggestions to involve the courts, arguing that appointment of the MEC chairperson and commissioners is a political decision made by the President.
“If there is a tie, it is the chairperson who breaks it. And when those decisions are submitted to the CEO, he is the one who certifies them,” he said.
In an interview on Monday, one of the coordinators of the protests, Sylvester Namiwa argued that their demands for resignation are feasible, saying a precedent was set in 2020 when the courts prescribed a period for a fresh presidential election to be held.
He said: “I can challenge you that what we are demanding is transparency. Let them bow down to the voice of the people. How hard is it to allow for an independent audit?
But in a statement, Civ i l Society Elections Integrity Forum chairperson Benedicto Kondowe dismissed the calls arguing that if concerns about electronic devices were genuine, it would be inconsistent for any political party, including the DPP to retain their commissioners since they participated in MEC decisions as a collective entity.
Said Kondowe: “Decisions on the use of electronic management devices are not the sole responsibility of the MEC chairperson but are made collectively by the commission in accordance with Section 11(3) and (5) of the Electoral Commission Act.
“Specifically, subsection (5) states that decisions are made by majority vote of the commissioners present with the chairperson only casting an additional vote in the event of a tie. This underscores the collective nature of MEC’s decision-making processes.”
