Selling right to vote smart Sochela

It is just over a year before Malawians choose the President, members of Parliament (MP) and ward councillors on September 16 2025.

Since the return to multiparty politics in 1993, the country has held six general elections.

Three of them included local government elections.

However, handouts appear to have become a common bond between candidates and the electorate though they are outlawed.

As the September 16 2025 General Elections draw closer, political parties and aspirants have already hit the road, distributing handouts to popularise themselves.

However, activists say voters should demand nothing but aspirant’s manifestos to separate wheat from chaff.

Katete Community Based Organisation chairperson Davie Sapitana says a self-proclaimed aspirant has been spotted distributing K20 000 to voters in Blantyre North.

“The constituency has just been re-demarcated and some people on the other side received K20 000, T-Shirts and pieces of cloths from an aspiring member of Parliament to get their votes come 2025,” he says.

Sydney Juma says the scrambles for handouts gave rise to violent clashes in the rural constituency ahead of the court-ordered fresh presidential election on June 23 2020.

“I was supporting a certain political party and chaos erupted as we were scrambling for T-shirts. My friend and I were seriously injured. We were admitted to Mlambe Mission Hospital in Lunzu,” he says.

Juma says the culture of handouts is deep-rooted nationwide.

“In most cases, the youth are the main target due to the country’s massive youth unemployment,” he says.

In Pasani Village, an enraged faction destroyed a bridge renovated by a parliamentary aspirant.

“Supporters of a contender were not happy. They were sponsored by their preferred candidate to demolish the bridge, claiming that the one who renovated it wasn’t welcome in Pasani,” he says.

Juma says jobless young Malawians are prone to being persuaded to engage in political violence.

“They have neither the skills required on the job market nor the capacity to do businesses, so political handouts become an irritable bait used to hook them,” he warns.

Juma is concerned that the freebies used to lure voters also drive the youth to create a climate of fear among the electorate opposed to their sponsor.

“Politicians use the handouts to form gangs that make the political playing field unbearable no-go zones for other groups,” he laments.

However, Juma and Sapitana are concerned that the free offerings have left several constituencies represented by wealthy and selfish MPs who do not seem to care about constituents’ needs.

This has contributed to underdevelopment beyond Blantyre, they warn.

“Even the youth who hack in the name of politics get poorer while their sponsors get richer,” says Juma.

He calls for intensive campaigns to educate the youths on the dangers of supporting candidates based on handouts instead of their capabilities and commitment to the general good.

In 2017, Parliament passed the Political Parties Bill which prohibits all forms of handouts to lure voters.

“A person who contravenes this section commits an offence, and shall, upon conviction, be liable to a fine of K10 million and imprisonment for five years,” reads Section 41 of the law, gazetted on January 24 2018.

The National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) says combating handouts would help entrench democracy and a culture of issue-based electoral campaigns.

The public trust is engaging the country’s youthful majority to discourage the appetite for handouts and help them appreciate their roles in democratic governance, including credible elections.

During a meeting with the youth in T/A Kapeni, Nice Trust Blantyre rural action forum chairperson Nice Trust Ken Mdala, said promoting entrepreneurship, skills development and self-reliance would help end election-related violence and handouts.

He said: “Generally, the money used to lure the voters is only available during the campaign period to disturb voters’ choice. Afterwards, you will never see it again.”

Mdala says some of the recipients feel compelled to vote against their wishes.

“By opting to vote in favour of their benefactor, not their desired candidates or values, they have sold their right to vote,” he says.

Mdala says the giveaways worsen laziness and dependence, which he calls political parasitism.

“Those who give or solicit handouts are selfish,” he says. “They are killing the future of our nation.”

Pol i t i cal commentator Humphreys Mvula says it is nearly impossible that outlawing handouts alone can end the give-and-take transaction poisoning Malawi’s democracy.

“Even the electorate is to blame for rallying behind politicians who use handouts as a campaign tool,” he says. “From experience, it is tough to deal with the vice when voters force politicians to give handouts.”

Mvula finds it appalling that some Malawians openly “vow to give their votes only to those who give them something”.

The former United Democratic Front election strategist says contestants who secure positions by “buying votes” seldom deliver public goods as they focus on recovering “what they lost”.

He advises government and non-governmental organisations to invest more in delivering civic education to make Malawians aware of the evils of handouts.

He also calls on the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), the registrar of political parties and other relevant role players to make the anti-handouts law work.

During a review of recent local government by-elections held in Karonga District in March 2024, representatives of different political parties warned that the neglected culture of handouts creates an unfair playing field for contestants and makes rogue candidates prevail over credible ones.

The political parties asked MEC and the government to tackle concerns about handouts seriously.

They warned that neglecting the cancer could stir violence and voter apathy in forthcoming general elections.

During the meeting, MEC chairper son, High Cour t Judge Chifundo Kachale said compliance with the ban on handouts during election campaign requires complainants to provide indisputable evidence for duty-bearers to act accordingly.

However, a concern is growing that the electoral management body finds it easier to crack down on opposition bodies than cases involving ruling elites’ allies.

Recently, Kizito Tenthani, formerly a fierce campaigner for regulating political parties, was appointed to make the law work.

When asked what he is going to do about the neglected boil in Malawi’s democracy, the newly appointed registrar of political parties said: “I haven’t reported for duties.

“I need to get into the office [and] take a look at what is there before I can respond to your questions.”

However, Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation executive director Michael Kaiyatsa says law enforcers should “wake up and start doing their job”.

“Those charged with enforcing the law are sleeping on the job, which is unfortunate considering that 2025 if fast approaching,” he says.