National News

Nice steps up election preps in Blantyre Rural

National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) Trust has lined up a number of activities in Blantyre Rural in preparation for the June 23 presidential election.

The district’s civic education officer Rose Wengawenga Simfukwe said in an interview yesterday that among other activities, Nice Trust is training volunteers in mobilisation strategies, voting procedures, correct marking of ballot papers and reporting on elections based on data and narrative.

Simfukwe: Mobile van is on the ground

She said: “The training will start on Thursday [today] and end on June 22.

“We do not want a situation where there are many null and void votes because some people did not know how to mark the ballots.”

Simfukwe said her office has also planned to meet members of the Pastors Fraternal to help them spread the message of peace.

She said many of them conduct church services on Saturdays and Sundays where they will have the opportunity to pass the message to their congregants.

“The mobile van is also on the ground advising people who registered for the 2019 elections to go and vote. We are telling them to live peacefully even if they politically do not agree,” said Simfukwe.

Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) director of media and public relations Sangwani Mwafulirwa commended Nice Trust for the initiative.

He said: “We applaud Nice for this initiative as it will go a long way in building an informed electorate that will be motivated to vote.

“It is important that everyone who is conducting voter education and mobilisation should send correct information.”

Malawians will go to the polls on June 23 2020 to elect a President after the High Court sitting as the Constitutional Court in Lilongwe on February 3 ordered fresh election after nullifying the May 21 2019 election due to widespread irregularities.

Related Articles

Back to top button