MEC hosting SADC’s Electoral Commissions Forum for chief electoral officers and executive committee meetings in Lilongwe from tomorrow June 1-4

* Hosting these important meetings reflects our commitment not only to our national mandate, but also to regional cooperation in strengthening democratic electoral processes

* These engagements provide valuable space for sharing lessons, addressing common challenges, and advancing electoral professionalism

* The meeting shall give a platform to member commissions conducting elections in 2025, Malawi, Seychelles, Tanzania and Zanzibar, to make presentations on their state of preparedness

By Duncan Mlanjira

The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) will from tomorrow (June 1-4) host the Electoral Commissions Forum of the Southern African Development Community (ECF-SADC) countries’ chief electoral officers (CEOs) and executive committee meetings in Lilongwe.

A statement from MEC’s director of media & public relations, Sangwani Mwafulirwa says the meetings are hosted by member commissions on rotational basis and provide a platform for knowledge exchange, regional collaboration, and strategic planning aimed at enhancing the delivery of democratic and credible elections in the SADC region.

The statement quotes MEC chairperson, Justice Annabel Mtalimanja as saying: “Hosting these important meetings reflects our commitment not only to our national mandate, but also to regional cooperation in strengthening democratic electoral processes.

“These engagements provide valuable space for sharing lessons, addressing common challenges, and advancing electoral professionalism. The executive committee of the Forum implements the policy decisions of the annual general conference.”

MEC adds that the meeting in Lilongwe will deliberate — amongst other matters — partnerships with other international organisations; strategies priorities of the Forum, including resource mobilisation; and use of digital tools in elections.

“The meeting shall give a platform to member commissions conducting elections in 2025, Malawi, Seychelles, Tanzania and Zanzibar, to make presentations on their state of preparedness.

According to MEC, the ECF-SADC was constituted in July 1998 and operates with a structure that includes the conference, the executive committee and the secretariat. “The Forum plays a crucial role in promoting free, fair, and credible elections within the region,” says Mwafulirwa in the statement. “It is committed to promoting best practices in electoral management, facilitating information exchange among electoral commissions, and advocating for electoral reforms to enhance democracy in the region.”

The members national electoral commission of Angola, Botswana, DR Congo, the Kingdom of eSwatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zanzibar and Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, MEC is concluding the last phase of voter inspection today, which started on Thursday, May 29 in Mangochi, Lilongwe, Mzimba, Mwanza, Chikwawa and Nsanje — which also goes along via a USSD facility on mobile phones by dialing *2509# on TNM or Airtel lines.

This convenient technology facility is being utilised as attested to by MEC’s Commissioner, Emmanuel Fabiano, after observing low turnout for physical voter verification exercise in Dowa.

After an inspection exercise at five verification centres yesterday Fabiano attributed the low turnout to mobile verification, which MEC established to ease the verification process.

“Out of the five centres we visited, only one centre had 72 people verifying their names, despite thousands of people registering to vote in the district,” he is quoted as saying by Malawi News Agency (MANA). “A lot of people are verifying on phone, and I believe that is the major factor in the low turnout, this way is easier than physically going to verification centres.”

A registered voter, Jailos Amos, told MANA that the mobile platform that MEC has established has allowed many people to verify their names through their phones, saying: “this kind of technology has made things simpler.

“As you know, we are in tobacco season and many people here are farmers — hence they are finding it difficult to go to the centres but are verifying through phone,” Amos said.—Reporting from Dowa, by Tamala Kamanga, MANA