MEC tasked on polls preparation
As the countdown to the May 21 2019 Tripartite Elections is underway, some electoral stakeholders have pressed the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) for assurance that voting materials will be at all polling centres before the voting day.
The demandwas made at a two-day workshop Danish Church Aid (DCA) organised and funded inLilongwe, which ended yesterday, to familiarise the stakeholders with electoralprocesses. MEC officials are training the participants.
Speaking in an interview on the sidelines of the workshop, Evangelical Association of Malawi (EAM) commissioner responsible for Ethics, Peace and Justice the Reverend Charles Makata said he witnessed how MEC delivered insufficient ballot papers or distributed them late on polling day in 2014.
He cautioned MEC not to be found wanting again next year, saying such inefficiency frustrates voters.
Said Makata: “My interest is, what mechanisms have they put in place, bearing in mind that we had challenges that time?”
DCA country director Finn Petersen said his organisation wants its stakeholders to understand electoral processes for them to conduct their duties in a proficient manner.
In an interview, MEC chief elections officer Sam Alfandika hailed the initiative, saying it will enable them to handle elections professionally.
Apart from EAM, other organisations involved in the training include Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP), Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD), Christian Service Committee (CSC), Foundation for Civic Education and Social Empowerment (Focese) and Women and Legal Resource Centre (Wolrec). n
