Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) and National Registration Bureau (NRB) have come under fresh attack from opposition political parties for purported failure to effectively manage the voter registration process.
In separate interviews on Monday after Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) president Peter Mutharika’s assertions in a televised address on Sunday evening, the parties told The Nation that the shortcomings have disenfranchised eligible voters and undermined their constitutional rights.
Mutharika, the country’s immediate-past president, highlighted several logistical failures, including registration officers arriving late or failing to report at centres, generators running out of fuel and some centres running out of essential registration forms.
He said these were deliberate attempts meant to silence the voices of Malawians and cannot be ignored.
Said Mutharika: “Democracy thrives on fairness and inclusivity, yet this government has chosen a path of suppression and incompetence.
“From Nsanje to Mzuzu, citizens are being denied their right to participate in shaping their future, leaving many to wonder whether their votes will count at all.”
However, he did not give evidence on the alleged suppression of votes and exact centres where the failures took place.
Speaking in an interview on Monday, UTM Party spokesperson Felix Njawala expressed deep concern over MEC’s decision to open fewer voter registration centres than those gazetted in the supplementary voter registration starting today.
He queried MEC’s commitment to upholding the principles of free, fair and inclusive elections as enshrined in the country’s Constitution.
Njawala further said NRB’s lack of capacity has consistently undermined the electoral process.
He said: “By failing to adequately address the need for accessible and functional registration centres, both MEC and NRB are systematically disenfranchising eligible citizens, a violation of their fundamental right to participate in the democratic process as guaranteed under Section 40 of the Constitution.”
Alliance for Democracy (Aford) spokesperson Annie Maluwa, in a separate interview, said the challenges faced by NRB and MEC are not mere logistical failures, but rather symptoms of a broader systemic problem.
She said it is unacceptable that eligible citizens are being disenfranchised due to the incompetence or deliberate actions of those responsible for managing the voter registration process.
“Aford strongly condemns MEC’s decision to limit the supplementary voter registration to only two days and a selection of centres, exclusively for those who registered with NRB from 21 October 2024,” said Maluwa.
Malawi Congress Party (MCP) publicity secretary Jessie Kabwila, whose party is the key partner in the disintegrated governing Tonse Alliance, did not respond to our questionnaire on the issue by press time.
Ch i s a n k h o Wa t c h chairperson Bishop Gilford Matonga, whose network monitored the registration proces s , was al so not immediately available for a comment, but the grouping last month reported an increasing spread of misinformation and disinformation by political parties, thereby undermining the voter registration process.
The group also noted allegations of rigging raised by the opposition in Parliament, citing incidents such as buying voter cards and multiple registrations.
Meanwhile, MEC chairperson Annabel Mtalimanja on Friday announced that the supplementary voter registration exercise for the September 16 2025 General Election set to start today will be conducted in 1 974 centres nationwide.
The exercise, which will be conducted in three phases from January 21 to February 3 2025, will cost K7 billion.
Mtalimanja, a judge of the High Court of Malawi, said the supplementary registration is targeting a maximum of 271 854 people who registered with NRB between October 21 2024 and January 4 2025 and would be 18 years and above by September 16 2025.
The supplementary registration seeks to register eligible voters who lacked access to NRB services during Phase One of the voter registration exercise conducted last year.
The phased registration exercise had 6 339 centres.
The Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections Act prescribes the national ID card or a registration notification slip issued by the NRB as the sole form of identification for one to register as a voter.
MEC was moved to conduct the supplementary exercise by a High Court of Malawi ruling on October 25 2024 to ensure that all eligible citizens can participate in the electoral process.
