Ministry of Justice is yet to finalise processing of regulations to govern implementation of the Political Parties Act (PPA) of 2018 governing the prohibition of handouts during election campaigns, it has emerged.
This means that the regulations may not be presented before the august House during the ongoing Budget Meeting of Parliament.
Registrar of political parties Kizito Tenthani indicated in January this year that the regulations, including one covering registration, would be finalised, gazetted and laid before Parliament during this Budget Meeting set to rise on April 11 2025.
But when asked on progress made yesterday, he said: “There are no more deliberations. We had a final meeting last week with the Ministry of Justice and I wrote a confirmation of the drafts that we have concluded and have confirmed suggestions that they gave us.
“What will happen now is that the Ministry of Justice will give us clean copies, and those copies will be sent for gazetting. This process is handled by the ministry and I can’t really say when it will be done.”
Tenthani said so far they have processed two regulations—one on handouts regulations which are now fused into the Political Parties (Complaints and Investigations) Regulations and registration regulations fused into the Forms and Fees Regulations.
On how soon the rules will come into force, knowing that on September 16 this year Malawians will head to the polls and these regulations are required before that time, he said September is too far from now.
Said Tenthani: “If we don’t manage, there is a court judgement related to Covid-19 regulations which stated that even if Parliament is not sitting, you can still lay the regulations by writing to the Clerk of Parliament, so we are covered.”
Ministry of Justice spokesperson Frank Namangale confirmed the developments in a written response yesterday.
He said the registrar received feedback from the ministry and engaged in several productive meetings with the ministry’s drafting section.
But Namangale did not respond when asked to provide timelines on when the regulations will finally be laid before Parliament and become enforceable.
Reacting to the development yesterday, Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation executive director Michael Kaiyatsa, whose institution alongside Chisankho Watch analysed the draft regulations in February, decried the delays.
Almost seven years after its enactment, the Act remains toothless, crippled by the absence of regulations, enabling politicians to evade accountability and transparency.
Section 41 (1) of the PPA 2018 prohibits any candidate, political party or person contesting in an election from issuing handouts.
