13 Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning….. 15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour. 16 Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour; I am the Lord. – Leviticus 19:13, 15-16
If at all it was possible for humankind, this would be the time to call for turning back the hands of time and wishing that Retired Justice Anastasia Msosa should return as Chairperson of the Malawi Electoral Commission. The former MEC chairperson Msosa, was by far the best chair of the Malawi entity that overlooks the running of Malawi’s elections in pre and post democracy years. She was true to-doing-my-job, unpretentious, fair, and respectful of leaders and voters without fear or favor, without looking left or right, without looking in front or behind, and definitely without regard to who put her in her chair.
Recent media reports, and indeed the actions of the MEC in these past years since Msosa’s retirement from the MEC chair position and indeed even from the bench, has left a bad taste in the mouth of Malawians, a suspicion of many statements and double-speak of the office bearers of this institution that is supposed to be an independent entity…. Media reports stated that the voter inspection and verification exercise was to open on Tuesday, and the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) announced the first and surely of much bad future news: it told Malawians that the MEC has identified some issues affecting voter images in some registration centres.
At the confession to the country, so far MEC Chairperson, Annabel Mtalimanja told the country that during the voters’ register quality assurance process, the Commission identified unclear photographs of voters in some registration centres. She mentioned “challenges like invisible faces in some photographs and photographs of National Registration Slips in place of the voter’s face.”
“The Commission has compiled a list of the affected voters and their corresponding registration centres. In total, there are 305 records of affected voters representing 0.0042% of the valid entries,” Mtalimanja said.
In attempting to alleviate our fears, the MEC chair assured the country that the affected voters will still be able to verify their respective records in the voters’ register as during the inspection and verification process using fingerprints, as the Commission will place Election Management Devices alongside the printed voters’ registers at every registration centre.
Seriously, from photographs to fingerprints!? This is the way our grandparents were identified for government identification purposes. Photographs were too costly to be used for the “Natives” (name the colonial government used to refer to Malawians).
The MEC informs the voters that there are three phases in which the inspection and verification of the voters’ register will be rolled out; the first phase runs from 13th May to 15th May; this will be followed by the second phase from 21st May to 23rd May; and the last phase will begin on 29th May and end on 31st May.
What is really upsetting about this is that there always appear secondary and third and even fourth layers to the onion called the voting exercise in Malawi. This is 2025 for crying out loud. Clarity of pictures should not be a stumbling block that sets alarm bells ringing, that there will be more that will be amiss during the 2025 elections.
Malawians are still mourning June 10, 2024; Malawians are still screaming about the 2019 Tippex elections saga that led to 2020 Fresh Presidential Elections that was complete with the failed Tonse Alliance; and Malawians still remember that since the dawn of the 1994 dawn of democracy, the country’s voting culture has been riddled with systemic anomalies, and sometimes violence.
The Commission’s urging of “all registered members to follow the dates and verify their records,” is giving Malawians not only extra work, but extra work that one they will not get paid for, two may led to a low voter turnout in September 2025 elections, and thirdly will definitely continue to decrease the levels of confidence Malawi voters have in the ability of the MEC to oversee the elections without fear or favor.
Madam Chair, the onus is entirely up to you and the Commission to run these elections for the
President, Parliamentarians, and councillors with the usual messy hitches that have been the diet for Malawian voters. Please, make us proud and make this year’s elections SMART elections.