The Maravi Post

MZUZU--Mtendere Election Support Network (MESN) a newly registered non-governmental organisation has been condemned by the Council for Non-governmental Organisations (Congoma), which argues the new group will bring confusion to the citizenry ahead of the 2014 elections.

 The new MESN is being criticised for the confusion its acronym has brought with the other Malawi Electoral Support Network (MESN).

But the group's leader Rafiq Hajat, who is also executive director of Institute for Policy Interaction, said there's no group registered as MESN in the country.

"Just to clarify, there's no other MESN-the other grouping registered a company limited by guarantee and called it Electoral Support Network (ESN). We were members of the original MESN formed in 2008 and have been excluded by ESN for undisclosed reasons, so we moved to revive the [MESN] network in a more inclusive manner," Hajat told The Nation.

However, Congoma chairperson Voice Mhone suspects that some greedy people are behind the new MESN.

"Congoma will have problems registering this network due to similar acronyms to that of the existing member. We suspect this is a ploy to confuse Malawians or someone somewhere is driven by greed.

"Out of so many names why MESN again? We've not heard of any civil society organisation [CSO] consultative meeting that would have given birth to such a network. A network can't be formed in silence as if it is a single NGO. Why not work towards strengthening already existing CSO electoral structures for time isn't on our side?" argued Mhone.

Formed last week, the group has Nandine Patel as chairperson, Edward Chaka as spokesperson and Hajat as Treasurer.

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(c)  The Maravi Post 2013

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