Registrar’s tricky vow

 If Registrar of Political Parties Kizito Tenthani’s pledge to make the long-snubbed anti-handouts law work ahead of the 2025 General Elections is anything to go by, then perpetrators of the malpractice have their days numbered.

But Tenthani’s upbeat stance has not impressed watchdogs who have cast doubt on the rhetoric, saying in the absence of necessary regulations to give the law some teeth and adequate staff, the registrar can only bark without anyone fearing bites.

Speaking in an interview yesterday, Tenthani insisted he will ensure that the regulations are ready in the countdown to the September 16 2025 General Elections.

“Yes, I can assure you,” he said.

“If I fail, it will be my first time to do so.”

On Tuesday, the regulator of political parties briefed the National Elections Consultative Forum (Necof) in Lilongwe on the stuttering fight against illicit gifts that politicians dish out in exchange for votes.

Section 41 of the Political Parties Act of 2018 prohibits politicians from bribing voters with freebies, but lists exceptions which governance commentators say creates loopholes that make the politics of money flourish.

Despite the law, perpetrators of the pay-to-play politics that ruin national polls, by-elections and the fabric of democracy continue to go scot-free.

Early this month, President Lazarus Chakwera rebuked some Malawi Congress Party heavyweights for splashing millions for seats in the politburo as if the party was for sale and the country did not have laws against such conduct. But so far, no institution with the mandate to deal with such conducts has acted on the matter.

In his wide-ranging presentation at the Necof that the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) convened, Tenthani, said the regulations were among his office’s priorities despite teething problems in his one-man office.

He told Necof that his to-do list also included identifying office space in Lilongwe and staff as for a long time the office was operating under the Registrar General in Blantyre.

In the follow-up interview yesterday, Tenthani was optimistic that the regulations would be ready within a year.

“Yes, I can give you my word. The law was made with a purpose and that can only work if it is implemented. That will happen,” said Tenthani.

His session at the election talks only stirred two questions compared with 43 on the National Registration Bureau’s struggle to issue citizens’ identity cards, the sole legal proof of identification for voter registration.

Tenthani was appointed in April and confirmed by Parliament in May this year.

He said: “We need regulations to make the law work. Since it prohibits hand-outs, it has to be followed up with regulations on how we will do it. The same applies to other sections, including the requirement for political parties to disclose their funding. We have to develop those regulations so that they are clear. Once this is done, we will have them gazetted and popularised.”

However, he fell short of indicating timelines.

Meanwhile, political governance analysts said yesterday there is no time to waste in the fight against handouts and clandestine party financing, which fuel high-level corruption and State capture, saying the country has already lost over two decades of democracy without an independent authority to keep political parties in check.

Re g i s t r a t i o n a n d regulation of political parties had been a ‘by the way’ task in the Office of the Registrar General since the fall of the one-party system in 1993.

I n a n i n t e r v i ew yesterday, Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency executive director Willy Kambwandira said now is the time for Tenthani to act against rogue political parties.

“While the registrar has not had much time [in the office], we at least expect his office to take next year’s elections as an opportunity to demonstrate the commitment to curb the handouts syndrome,” he said.

National Initiative for Civic Education programmes manager Gray Kalindekafe said: “The conclusion is that this is a difficult law to implement and it has several gaps. It was not tightened enough. It can’t work for this election because the registrar’s office isn’t ready and the law doesn’t have the teeth to bite.”

Political scientist Professor Boniface Dulani, who attended the Necof, said progress in the war on hand-outs and clandestine party funding offers little hope in the push for good governance and a corruption-free Malawi.

He said: “No, we are not winning. We should look at this not only from what was said at Necof, but also what is happening. Recently, two major political parties had their elective conventions and many people were seen splashing cash to win various positions, but no one seemed to ask where they got the money they were dishing out to the delegates.

“We need to ask them the right questions not only on who gave them the money, but also why the donors found it necessary to donate the money to particular candidates.”

Dulani reckoned the seven-year wait to enact the law and half-a-decade lapse to establish Tenthani’s office point to political parties’ reluctance to make the law work for greater transparency and accountability in political transactions.

However, Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace programmes manager Boniface Chibwana said the establishment of Tenthani’s office “should give us hope”.

In July this year, Malawi Law Society asked the Registrar of Political Parties to take action against candidates giving cash handouts ahead of MCP national executive committee elective convention.