Gold mining hindering voter registration
The alleged illegal gold mining in group village headman Katondo in Traditional Authority (T/A) Mazengela is hindering voter registration in the area.
T/A Mazengela, which falls under Lilongwe Mpenu Constituency has recorded 40 percent of the projected figures, a problem which has been attributed to the discovery of gold deposits.
The revelation came when the Malawi Electoral Commission chairperson, Jane Ansah, inspected registration centres in the area.
“The turnout is not encouraging. In this area, what has affected voter registration is the ongoing gold mining. People are just mining gold and they are not registering. For instance, we promised to give K1000 note to whoever could produce a voter certificate at the mining site but none of them could,” she said.
Ansah said this will have a huge bearing since most people won’t be able to register and cast their vote in the 2019 Tripartite Elections.
Speaking in an interview, a miner, Basikolo Roma described the discovery of gold in the area as a blessing.
“It’s a huge relief for us and we are able to fend for ourselves when we sell the gold,” he said.
He revealed that they sell a gramme of gold at K25 000.
The development has since affected eight centres in T/A Mazengela.
