Government is working on addressing the lack of transparency in political party and campaign financing by proposing regulations for parties to disclose their sources of funding.
To this end, government is this month set to launch a 2025-2028 Open Government Partnerships (OGP) National Action Plan (NAP) which recommends the need to develop regulations to operationalise the Political Parties Act (2018) as well as regulations to track political party funding from private and other sources.
Reads the NAP in part : “Expected outputs are periodic public declarations of party finances and publication of quarterly audited reports. Full disclosure of political par ty donors and campaign financing structures.”
Additionally, the NAP seeks to ensure increased collaboration between the Registrar of Political Parties and other oversight entities such as the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and the Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) to ensure political parties account for the resources.
Government will also be required to digitalise the Political Party Registry by developing an online system to manage political party financing data.
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“Strengthen coordination and enhance partnerships between government institutions, CSOs and the media to increase transparency in political financing,” reads the NAP further.
Meanwhile, governance expert Moses Mkandawire has welcomed the move to regulate political party financing, saying leaving it unchecked promotes corruption, fraud and other malpractices.
He said political parties should not have problems disclosing their funding, sources and how they are using the resources as doing so enhances transparency, accountability as well as promoting people’s trust in the parties.
Said Mkandawire: “There could also be the aspect of terrorism financing through political parties. So one way of controlling that is having the regulatory framework, the law and other regulatory frameworks, so that you see who really gives what, when and how.
“We need to see where the money is coming from to avoid incidents of terrorism and also incidents where one captures the State at the end of the day.”
Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation programmes officer Dennis Mwafulirwa observed that disclosing source of funding is a big challenge for political parties.
He said parties should be ready to disclose source of funding which mostly comes from private donors, arguing the secrecy promotes corruption.
Said Mwafulirwa: “We are now heading towards elections, we need to see political parties making commitments to say we commit to transparency and accountability when it comes to political party funding as wel l as campaign financing.
“These are areas w here corruption is also manifested. We talk about State capture. State capture starts from these kind of situations where we are going towards elections.”
In an interview on Thursday, People’s Party secretary general Ben Chakhame welcomed the plan to track sources of funding for political parties.
He said even in the absence of such recommendation in the NAP, the party would champion the same if it forms the next government.
Said Chakhame: “The challenge with secrecy is that there is always something behind that. As government you must be honest, you must be transparent and once you do first High Court judgement found Unima to have violated Section 43 of the Constitution of Malawi by not observing the rules of natural justice before terminating his employment without being heard and providing the reason for the termination of the employment.
“So, I am praying that the AFCHPR upholds the damages of K3,156,708 assessed by the court registrar of the High Court on May 28, 2004, as a lawful and appropriate award for the violation of my constitutional rights to its current value of K206 813 499.00,” he said.
Commenting on the length the matter has taken, human rights activist Undule Mwakasungula described the case as “very touching, deeply troubling and raising serious concerns” about the effectiveness and integrity of the justice system in the country.
He said: “I believe this prolonged legal battle amounts to a fundamental denial of justice. There is a reason why the legal maxim justice delayed is justice denied is held in such regard.”
“A court case that stretches over a quarter of a century, without finality, effectively denies the complainant the right to a timely and effective remedy, which is a violation of both domestic and international legal standards.”
He said the situation exposes the inefficiencies and systemic weaknesses within the Judiciary and also signals the need for serious reforms in how cases are managed, especially those on appeal.
“The case’s continuous movement between courts suggests the absence of clear timelines for decisions, poor case tracking, and potentially even neglect or manipulation.
“It undermines public confidence in the justice system and weakens the rule of law, which is a cornerstone of democratic governance. Beyond legal technicalities, we must also consider the personal toll this has taken on the former lecturer.
To lose a job, pursue redress for decades, and still not find closure is a form of psychological, emotional, and economic harm that borders on inhumane treatment. His dignity has been eroded and his right to an effective remedy has been trampled on. Ultimately, this case tells us a much deeper and broader problem that affects many Malawians,” he observed.
that the rest will follow suit. “I don’t see any problem with that, this is a country we need to fix and if that is a way to fix our country, I don’t see any problem and People’s Party is ready to welcome that.”
United Democratic Front spokespersons Dyson Jangiya asked for more time to consult on the matter.
Malawi Congress Party spokesperson Jessie Kabwila, Aford spokesperson Annie Amatullah Maluwa and UTM Party spokesperson Felix Njawala could not be reached on their phones.
The OGP promotes accountability, transparency and citizenship engagement as a way of enhancing democracy
