MEC resumes voters’ roll verification

The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) says it has worked on the inconsistencies that resulted in the suspension of the voters’ roll inspection exercise.

Chief elections officer Willie Kalonga said in a statement on Friday that the first phase of the exercise would resume next Wednesday and end on Sunday, April 13 2014.

Dates for the subsequent phases have not been announced.

But one of the major electoral stakeholders, the Malawi Electoral Support Network (Mesn), has faulted MEC for rushing to resume the exercise without telling the nation that the commission has cleaned up the mess.

“The fact that the exercise was stopped barely two days after opening and we were told they faced logistical challenges, as Mesn, we feel MEC should have issued a press statement first to tell the nation that it has cleaned up the mess and it is set to resume the process other than just telling us that they are resuming the exercise,” said Mesn chairperson Steve Duwa yesterday.

Duwa said beginning the exercise in the Southern Region instead of going back to the North where the process started before the suspension has created confusion.

“If last time they started with the Northern Region and the exercise flopped and then they have worked on the discrepancies and are now starting with another region, we see that as a challenge because it creates a lot of confusion,” he said.

But DPP director of elections Kondwani Nankhumwa yesterday said it is too early to start judging MEC after the resumption of the exercise.

“Let us wait and see what will be transpire at the polling centres whether the voters’ roll will be genuine or and the exercise effective that is when we can start coming up with conclusions,” said Nankhumwa.