DPP accused of poll fixing
The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and People’s Party (PP) have accused the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of manipulating Agriculture Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) management to rig the forthcoming by-elections.
The two main opposition political parties’ claims follow Admarc’s action to open two makeshift markets in Sadzi Ward in Zomba City after a DPP shadow councillor promised residents of the area he would facilitate the process.
The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) is set to hold by-elections in Sadzi Ward and Kaliyeka in Lilongwe, Bunda in Kasungu, Bembeke in Dedza for ward councillors and Mchinji West Constituency for member of Parliament on November 1.
However, the two parties on Wednesday raised suspicions after State grain trader on Tuesday evening ferried more than 1 000 bags of maize weighing 50 kilogrammes (kgs) each to a newly set-up market at Mpunga and Sadzi, both situated in Sadzi Ward.
But DPP secretary general Eclain Kudontoni dismissed the parties’ allegations, describing them as unjustifiable.
MCP deputy secretary general Eisenhower Mkaka said his party would lodge a complaint to MEC on the matter as the action was tantamount to elections rigging.
He observed that all along, people of Sadzi Ward had no Admarc market and Admarc’s move to open one and fill the two selling points with the grain was a DPP strategy to rig the election.
Mkaka further accused the DPP of sending maize to Sadzi after hearing that MCP president Lazarus Chakwera was holding a rally on Wednesday in the area.
He said: “DPP is using Admarc to advance its agenda. We are not happy at all with what the ruling party is doing. I think it is high time we got to a point where politics should be separated from parastatal operations.”
PP spokesperson Noah Chimpeni said while there was nothing the party could do on the matter other than intensifying its campaign, it was surprising that the DPP could think supplying maize to the area can influence the electorates to vote for them.
He believed the people in the area are “smart enough” to distinguish between government logical assistance to its citizens and elections propaganda mechanism.
But the DPP secretary general questioned the two opposition parties’ judgement, describing their claims as cheap propaganda advanced by “failed political parties.”
“It is surprising because people have been complaining about lack of maize and government is now responding to the demand by stocking the markets [why then] should they start blaming government?” wondered Kudontoni.
In another interview, Admarc spokesperson Agnes Chikoko said there was nothing sinister in ferrying the maize to Sadzi as the corporation was currently transporting maize from all holding markets to satellite depots.
“We will open a lot of such markets across the country because there are a lot of areas that were hit by hunger. These markets are seasonal, they are opened depending on the need and once that need goes, we move out. So, there is nothing political, we are only taking the markets to where the people are,” she explained.n
