MEC procurement shift raises fears

Electoral stakeholders have raised fears that the decision by the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) to shift the deadline for the procurement of election management devices (EMD) from January to June 2024 could affect the electoral calendar.

The shift comes after MEC chairperson Chifundo Kachale last month told the Commissions, Statutory Authorities and Enterprises Committee of Parliament that procurement and delivery would be done by January 31 2024 “to avoid any risks that may come if this is not done”.

But in a written response to The Nation questionnaire on Thursday, MEC director of media and public relations Sangwani Mwafulirwa allayed the fears that the change in time will affect preparations for major electoral events on the calendar such as voter registration expected to start in September 2024.

He said the procurement of EMDs is ongoing and that it was designed in a way that accommodates emerging issues.

Said Mwafulirwa: “The initial timeline to 31 January 2024 has been varied to accommodate various emerging factors, including a time extension that had arisen to allow potential bidders to re-frame their technical proposals when it became clear that MEC’s technology requirements were unique and would need custom-scoped solutions.

“The commission is now undertaking technical evaluations of the proposed solution and we are hopeful that it will be possible to move to making the award of the contract.

“In this way, a major target was that beyond delivery of the technology, the commission will be targeting 30th June 2024 as the date when the technology will have been commissioned and be declared ready for commencement of national voter registration in September 2024.”

During the meeting at Parliament, MEC said it needed about K28 billion worth of foreign exchange to procure different IT equipment to be used in voter registration, and that it was in discussion with Treasury for this funding.

On whether Treasury has released the forex, Mwafulirwa said the procurement was yet to be concluded, but expressed optimism that once procurement processes are concluded, forex will be available for this purpose.

But while MEC is optimistic, the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has expressed concern with the delays, saying they have the potential to affect preparations for the 2025 Tripartite Elections.

In an interview on Thursday, DPP spokesperson Shadric Namalomba urged government to prioritise elections in its expenditure.

“This is a timeframe they set and there must be a good reason they said the equipment would be delivered by January 31. I do not think the change by six months will be without effect. We know there is a forex shortage, but I think if we are able to procure fuel they should equally prioritise elections. We need a credible election, and it starts with doing things on time” he said.

In a separate interview, Centre for Multiparty Democracy executive director Kizito Tenthani said the nation needs assurance that the change in plan will not affect implementation of the electoral calendar.

He said while procurement is an operational issue under MEC’s control, the electoral body is duty-bound to implement registration as it is supposed to be.

Said Tenthani: “Registration is about the law, you cannot afford to compromise it. The expectation is that they will procure equipment on time and have enough time for pre-testing before registration starts.

“We do not need to experience the hiccups that we have witnessed before on registration with malfunctioning equipment.”

During the meeting with parliamentarians, Kachale, a judge of the High Court of Malawi, indicated that the Biometric Voter Registration Kits (BVRKs) the commission has been using for voter registration and verification since 2017 were obsolete and needed replacement with EMDs.

He said that the commission needed about K220 billion for the 2025 General Elections to be financed across three financial years of 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26.

On how the 44 percent kwacha devaluation implemented in November has affected the budget, Mwafulirwa said the commission is yet to analyse the impact, but said they expect the budget to go up.

He said: “This is essentially a budgeting process and as you may be aware, the plan and budget for any election are constantly evolving to accommodate emerging situations as implementation is going on.”

According to the electoral calendar, MEC will, in September 2024, launch the 2025 General Elections followed by registration of voters.

In November 2024, MEC will announce new nomination fees while presentation of nomination papers is scheduled for May and June 2025, with the official campaign period running from July 15 to September 14.

Polling day is September 16 while the announcement of results is planned for between September 17-October 7 for all elections, namely the presidential, parliamentary, and local government polls.