Churches asked to integrate voter education
Pan African Civic Educators (Pacenet) has asked faith leaders to integrate civic and voter education in their spiritual gatherings as Malawi heads for the first ever Tripartite Elections on May 20 this year.
Pacenet executive director, Steven Duwa, made the call in Thyolo on Wednesday when he officially opened a day long issue-based campaign training for community-based educators (CBEs).
Duwa said some voters miss civic and voter education rallies because of farming, hence, churches should fill those gaps so that electoral messages reach everyone.
He said with funding from United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DfID) through the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), Pacenet is engaging religious leaders on how best religious forums can be used to disseminate electoral-related messages.
Pastor of Luchenza Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) Church Jossen Ndalama said they were ready to integrate the messages in their activities to enable members make informed decisions.
“We will craft sermons to inlcude electoral messages.
“We realise the importance of elections and do everything to support efforts aimed at achieving credible elections,” said Ndalama.
