Sadc body for transparent, credible elections

The Electoral Commissions Forum of Sadc (ECF-Sadc) has urged electoral management bodies in its member States to ensure transparent and credible elections in their countries.

ECF-Sadc chairperson of Advocate Notemba Jjipueja made the call in Lilongwe yesterday at the opening of a four-day orientation of new commissioners and senior management members of election management bodies (EMBs) from member States.

Said Jjipueja: “The future and democracy of our countries lie in our hands and we need to ensure that we don’t betray our people.”

The orientation session comes at a time when about five Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) member States, including Malawi, are set to hold elections between this year and next year.

Malawi Electoral Support Network (Mesn) welcomed the call, saying non-credible elections are a recipe for political violence which in turn becomes counterproductive to the nation.

“It’s a good advice and nations, especially those expecting elections soon need to take this seriously. It is high time we started seeing political parties agreeing to results after an election,” said Mesn chairperson Steve Duwa.

On her part, Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) chairperson Jane Ansah said sometimes EMBs are affected by foreseen and unforeseen challenges which when misunderstood by electoral stakeholders, lead to wrong conclusions.

Ansah, who is a judge of the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal, said MEC like any other EMB within the region will always maintain transparency and accountability in any election management to avoid misunderstandings and conflicts.

Malawi is set to hold tripartite elections in May 2019.