Parties yet to disclose funders parties

Political parties, including those in the governing Tonse Alliance, are yet to disclose their sources of funding, almost six months after a June 30 2021 deadline.

In an interview on Wednesday, Registrar of Political Parties Chikumbutso Namelo said none of the political parties had completed the disclosure processes as required by the Political Parties Act of 2018.

He said the disclosures being a new requirement, most political parties seem not to understand how to handle the processes.

“We have since written the political parties, advising them on the proper way of making the disclosures,” he said.

However, this is the case despite the registrar having shifted the deadline for the disclosures from March 31 2021 to June 30 2021.

Namelo had attributed the shifting of the deadline to the Covid-19 pandemic, which slowed down activities.

Asked what action his office would take, the registrar said: “You know, this is a new thing and where appropriate, we had to offer advice to the political parties how to do certain things, and we did that in writing.”

But this has not gone down well with the Malawi Law Society (MLS), which has disclosed that it will take the registrar to court for failure to take to task the political parties.

The Political Parties Act empowers the registrar to deregister any political party that contravenes the Act.

The lawyers’ body had given the registrar of Political Parties 15 days, which expired on August 15, to disclose campaign funds received from private institutions and individuals in the 2019 Tripartite Elections and the June 2020 Fresh Presidential Election.

In a written response, MLS honorary secretary Chrispin Ngunde said they have not received the requested report or any response from the Registrar of Political Parties.

He said: “We have already drawn up documents and will soon be referring the matter to court to seek judicial guidance on the implications of the Registrar’s failure to respond.

“The Political Parties Act does not give the registrar powers to defer or suspend compliance with sections 27, 28 and 30 of the Act. Therefore, Covid-19 cannot be a valid excuse for the political parties not to comply with the mandatory provisions of the Act.”

MLS said if indeed the registrar set June 30 for the political parties to comply, their view was that such a decision has no legal effect.

Malawi Congress Party (MCP), a main player in the governing Tonse Alliance administration which sold itself to the electorate as a party that respects the rule of law, said it is working on final stages to submit its disclosures to the registrar.

MCP spokesperson the Reverend Maurice Munthali said the party was assessing its finances and property to come up with a complete report.

He said: “We know we are past the deadline and as a party in government, we have to be exemplary. We appeal to the registrar to give us a little room to complete this process. We’re doing all we can to have this done.”

In a separate interview, UTM Party secretary general Patricia Kaliati said her party received communication that the registrar of Political Parties sent letters to political parties through the Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD).

“We’re trying to follow up with CMD. We’ll only make our position known on this matter when we get this letter because we want to understand what the registrar has advised,” she said.

But in a separate interview, CMD executive director Kizito Tenthani said the registrar gave the centre 13 certificates for distribution to political parties that have been duly registered.

“It has nothing to do with the disclosures,” he said.

On his part, United Democratic Front (UDF) secretary general Kandi Padambo said the party made its initial submissions to the registrar and has not been advised of any deficiencies to date.

Said Padambo: “For your information, we have been reliably informed that we are successfully registered under the Political Parties Act.

“This is elating as it means we’re operating on the correct side of the law of the land.”

In a written response yesterday, Democratic Progressiove Party spokesperson Shadreck Namalomba said they received the letter two days ago dated November 30 2021.

He said: “The issues for further submission include declaration of donations, party bank accounts and accounts for receiving State funding and submission of audited financial statements for the 2021 financial year.

“The letter gives us three months to submit the information requested. We shall endeavour to comply before the due date of 28 February 2022.”

In its letter to the registrar, MLS demanded that Namelo makes available copies of accounts audited by a certified public accountant in respect of all private funding received by each of the political parties.

Signed by MLS chief executive officer Mzati Sydney Mbeko, the letter further wanted the registrar to disclose sources and amounts of money the four major political parties received between January 1 2019 and December 31 2020.

The four parties mentioned in the MLS letter were MCP, UTM Party—which are the main parties in the Tonse Alliance administration—and main opposition DPP and UDF.

Reads the letter in part: “The four political parties copied provided the four major contestants and/or partners to the presidential and parliamentary race.

“They evidently spent substantial sums of money during the campaign canvassing for votes from the electorate with a view to ultimately serve the public and to protect public interests as required in Section 12 of the Constitution.”

MLS said the information was important to evaluate private political party financing in the period and how it impacts on several matters of governance and the rule of law; and, to determine how effectively public interest is protected in the process and in subsequent dealings of the political parties.

In Section 31, the Act demands a political party to at least once a year make available all financial records to its members.

Tenthani is on record to have backed the MLS’s position, saying it was a legitimate demand. He encouraged all political parties to comply with the Act. Section 27 subsection 2 of the Act reads: “A political party may, for purposes of financing its activities, appeal for and receive donations from any individual or organisation within or outside Malawi, provided that the source of every donation, whether in cash or in kind and whether once or cumulatively, with a monetary value of at least K1 000 000 from an individual donor and of at least K2 000 000 from an organisation shall within 90 days of its receipt be declared to the registrar by the political party concerned.”