Presidential candidates in the September 16 2025 General Election should brace to part ways with K10 million as Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has increased the nomination fees from K2 million.
MEC chairperson Annabel Mtalimanja said in a statement that the nomination fees will apply to all presidential candidates regardless of gender.
However, she said women, youth aged under-35 and persons with disability will pay 50 percent of nomination fees in parliamentary and local government elections.
Mtalimanja was not immediately available to justify the new nomination fees.
The fees for male parliamentary candidates is now pegged at K2.5 million, meaning that women, youths and persons with disability seeking that office will pay K1.25 million each.
For local government elections, male candidates will pay K200 000 while female candidates, persons with disability and youth candidates will pay K100 000.
In the 2019 Tripartite Elections, nomination fees for male parliamentary candidates was K500 000 and their female counterparts were paying K250 000 while male candidates for local government election paid K40 000 and their female counterparts K20 000.
Meanwhile, 50:50 programme campaigners have welcomed MEC’s decision to set preferential fees for women, youth and persons with disability aspiring to contest in parliamentary and local government elections.
Oxfam in Malawi country director Lingalireni Mihowa, whose organisation is one of the implementers of the political empowerment of women, youths and persons with disability strategy, said the reduced fees for the three groups was one of the requests they made during a meeting with MEC last month.
She said: “This will ease the economic burden on these groups. Cost of politics in Malawi is very high so any savings that can be made by nominees is of value. MEC’s gesture is appreciated.”
But in an interview yesterday, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) national director of women Mary Navicha said even with the preferential consideration, the nomination fees for women, youth and persons with disability, is still on the higher side.
The Thyolo Thava legislator said DPP will engage the commission to propose K500 000 fees for female parliamentary candidates and K50 000 for female candidates in the local government election.
Said Navicha: “Women’s businesses are failing and for some, their salaries are not enough due to the devaluation of the kwacha.
“Our fear is that with the current economic situation, the fees will prevent women from contesting.”
In the 2019 Tripartite Elections, 45 women won parliamentary seats in the 193-member House, an increase from 32 in 2014.
Under the political empowerment of women strategy, Malawi is targeting at least 35 percent of women winning parliamentary and local government seats in the 2025 General Election.
