Portrait of a ward councillor

Chimalabanthu villager Juliet Kaonga knows next week’s tripartite elections will be polls like no other due to the inclusion of councillors on the ballot. The mother-of-three in Rumphi Central is convinced that the local government agents, who have been absent since 2005, are part of the game. Yet the registered voter confesses experiencing a deadening information blackout even on those vying for positions in the local government system and their ideals.

“I know almost all parliamentary candidates in the constituency who are almost a common sight. However, nothing much is being said about councillors who sit idly during the aspirant MPs’ rallies,” said Kaonga when the National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) Trust organised a debate in the constituency, her first encounter with five of the candidates in the frame for the local assembly seats in the area.

The information gap is equally gaping in urban areas, with Mzuzu City dweller Enoch Kachala declaring: “As of January this year, I had already decided the presidential and parliamentary candidate I will vote for. However, I don’t know any of the aspiring councillors in my area.”

But the anomaly has been widespread and conspicuous. In the countdown to Monday’s polls, electoral support organisations, including the Institute of War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), have been faulting the media for letting the public down by not according the local government poll the same status as the parliamentary and presidential elections.

The key players in the local government system enshrined in Section 146 of the Constitution suffered a nosedive in 2005 when the mandate of the first councillors, elected in 2000, expired. Instead of facilitating the election of new councillors, the then ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) postponed the polls and abused its majority in Parliament to change the Local Government Act to give the presidency power to fix dates for the vital polls.

Although critics vehemently opposed the amendment, DPP founding president Bingu wa Mutharika, who died on April 5 2012, never used his power to call for the democratic due process during his reign.

Asked about the effects of the break on the forthcoming elections, Senior Chief Mwankhunikira of Rumphi says: “Having seen local councils functioning without councillors, some people have the misconception that the elected office-bearers may not be as important as they are said to be.”

In this regard, Nice executive director Ollen Mwalubunju says May 20 offers Malawians a chance to make good of the lost years by voting for capable councillors.

“As Nice, we respect councillors just as parliamentary and presidential candidates. They are the foundation of our democracy. If the foundation is not strong, a house will crumble,” says Mwalubunju.

As the base of democracy, the councillors have a constitutional duty to consolidate democratic institutions and participation at local level; to promote economic and infrastructural development; mobilise resources within and outside the district, to make by-laws and participate in the delivery of essential services.

Despite being so essential, the first-line representatives have been further degraded since theirs remains a job without pay.

Presently, the majority of the candidates comprise retired personnel, people with low-perched education qualifications and raw minds harnessing councillorship as a stepping stone to Parliament. Exceptionally, the likes of Blantyre-based private practice lawyer Noel Chalamanda have been regular newsmakers largely due to their prominence.

During the Nice-sponsored debate, the Rumphi Central contenders were asked to explain themselves in English, a prerequisite for councillorship stipulated in the Local Government Elections Act.

And their responses were revealing.

“I’ve been a teacher for 13 years and English is the language of instruction in Malawian schools. I’m very conversant with English and ready to bring to Rumphi Central all the development we want,” said DPP’s Dumisani Zulu of Chinyonga-Mphompa Ward.

Taking his turn, Aford’s Ronald Msowoya stated: “I went to school. Therefore, I am capable to go to assembly and talk.”

To appear on the ballot paper, the five passed the Electoral Commission’s test.

Part of this group is Stanley Mphande, a former student of Nkombezi Community Day Secondary Schools.

“Did I went to school (sic) or not? I wrote my Malawi School Certificate of Education at Nkombezi CDSS,” he said.

But not all candidates for local councils are questionable job seekers. There are the likes of PP’s Harry Munyenyembe who seem to understand issues of transparency, accountability, freedom of expression, participation and other pillars of democracy better than the most powerful brains in their party ever did.

At the time the ruling party’s presidential candidate, President Joyce Banda and running mate Sosten Gwengwe were earning notoriety for shunning the ground-breaking debate organised by Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) and the local chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa-Malawi), Munyenyembe stood firm in defence of the electorate’s right to know who the candidates are and all they represent.

“I salute the organisers of this debate for according us a chance to explain our visions to the people and giving them the freedom to ask questions. The people are our masters, for we are only jobseekers. It’s good for us to know what they want and for them to know what we envision,” said the retired teacher.

Yet the campaign is that period again when wolves bleat like sheep, when even the most ruthless candidate will go around greeting and smiling at people only to get their votes. It is that time politicians say all the niceties to carry the day.

Despite the setbacks, Mwankhunikira is optimistic the councillors’ worth may have been eroded but they can add value to democracy if people vote wisely.

“I think we need to vote for servant leaders. Apart from speaking English and living in the wards, the councillor we need should be loving, listening and advisable—not self-centred,” says the senior chief.

This perspective is clearly informed by the stand-offs and arrogant disposition of some of the councillors long gone, who found themselves on the crash course with members of Parliament due to uncurbed ambition, power and self-centredness.

Rumphi District Council director of administration James Tembo urges those vying for councillorship to know their job to avoid conflicts with MPs whose mandate largely includes making laws, vetting national expenditure and providing checks and balances to both the Executive and the Judiciary.

“The candidates have applied for a job and if their applications are approved by the public, they will do well to familiarise themselves with the job description to avoid the friction we witnessed between 2000 and 2005,” says Tembo, recalling how some councillors almost took over the implementation of development projects from district council secretariat when their job stops at planning and providing oversight.

In the local government system, the councillors to be elected on May 20 will have voting powers which traditional authorities and appointed representatives of selected groups are denied.

The local government set-up is backed by the Local Government Act and Local Government Elections as well as the 1998 National Decentralisation Policy which promotes popular participation in decision-making as well as transparency in grassroots governance and developmental affairs.

Since its inception, Nice, which has its personnel in all parts of the country, has been using a broad spectrum of approaches to entrench democracy and ensure Malawians take part in public life.

Its in-charge Mwalubunju urges Malawians to take the local government election seriously because the councillors are pivotal to the country’s representative democracy. He reckons the country’s democracy has been incomplete without councillors.

As the polling day draws near, Mwalubunju says like the Electoral Commission, Nice encourages every registered voter to go and vote.

And his message was simple: “We want to see every vote count because bad leaders are elected by people who don’t vote. Acquaint yourself with the voting process because null and void votes are a misuse of votes. Above all, vote wisely and peacefully. In democracy, there is no space for violence.”