Registrar corners political parties
The Registrar of Political Parties has warned that he will whip political parties that will not declare their assets and sources of donations in line with the Political Parties Act.
While some political parties have said they have already declared their assets and people are free to check with the Registrar, a governance expert feels parties must lead by example on transparency.
In an interview, Registrar Chikumbutso Namelo said his office is analysing submissions that some political parties have made, but could not disclose which parties were yet to make the submissions after the July 8 2022 deadline.
“We are analysing the few submissions that we have received. We want to finish and prepare a report on the same,” he said.
Namelo said the deadline of July 8 was to ensure that political parties comply with the law.
“This is an ongoing process. The law places certain obligations on political parties and personal responsibility on the secretaries general. Our interest is that they comply,” he said.
Last week in Parliament, Minister of Justice Titus Mvalo decried continued tendencies by some political parties not to meet deadlines on submission of declarations, especially on donations.
He said: “Significantly, the law places personal criminal liability on secretaries general of political parties for failure to comply with the law.
“I, therefore, take this opportunity, Madam Speaker, to implore secretaries general of all political parties to ensure full compliance with Section 27 of the Act, or risk finding themselves behind bars for non-compliance by their political parties.”
In an interview, Malawi Congress Party secretary general Eisenhower Mkaka said the party remains ready to disclose any funds it receives.
“At the moment, there are no substantial donations being made, because most of the times donations come when we approach people for campaigns,” he said.
His United Democratic Front counterpart Kandi Padambo faulted the general public for insisting on parties to disclose sources of donations for the 2019 Tripartite Elections and the June 23 2020 Fresh Presidential Elections.
He said such finances do not form part of the current law and regulations which include the Declaration of Assets Form and the Declaration of Donation Form that were only gazetted in December 2020 after these elections took place.
Said Padambo: “I sit in the board of Centre for Multiparty Democracy [CMD], and I know what parties have disclosed. Most political parties in Malawi are not wealthy; they depend on donations from well-wishers.
“UDF has submitted to the Registrar of Political Parties what is required of them.”
UTM Party secretary general Patricia Kaliati said: “We already declared our assets, the expenditures and everything. You can go and check with the Registrar of Political Parties.”
However, governance analyst Makhumbo Munthali said parties need to face the law, saying the country is currently suffering from effects of corruption due to secrecies.
He said: “The leaders in these parties have to be taken to task. As a people, we also need to take interest, especially on under-declarations.
“Where we have information but the parties have not provided it, we need to alert law enforcement agencies to act.”
The Political Parties Act of 2018 states that “political parties are permitted to solicit donations from its members, private individuals and organisations.
Meanwhile, the Malawi Law Society took the Registrar of Political Parties to court to demand that he disclosed the sources and amounts of money four major political parties received between January 1 2019 and December 31 2020.
