Those with damaged or lost their voter registration certificates assured of replacement free of charge in voters register inspection exercise

* As the second phase of voter inspection exercise commences for three days from tomorrow till Friday (May 20-23)

* Covering Rumphi, Nkhata Bay, Likoma, Kasungu, Kasungu Municipality, Dowa, Mchinji, Ntcheu, Zomba and Zomba City, Blantyre and Blantyre City, Thyolo and Luchenza Municipality

By Duncan Mlanjira

In announcing the second phase voters register inspection exercise, Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) is assuring those who lost or had their voter registration certificates damaged, will be replaced free of charge at voters register inspection centres.

A statement from Director of media & public relations, Sangwani Mwafulirwa says the free replacements need not be accompanied by a police report, saying the voter registration certificate will be printed immediately upon a registered voter presenting themselves for verification.

MEC notifies the public that the second phase — covering Rumphi, Nkhata Bay, Likoma, Kasungu, Kasungu Municipality, Dowa, Mchinji, Ntcheu, Zomba and Zomba City, Blantyre and Blantyre City, Thyolo and Luchenza Municipality — commences for three days from tomorrow till Friday (May 20-23).

“Every registered voter is urged to take their voter registration certificate to the centre where they registered or transferred to while those able can simply inspect their details by dialing *2509# on TNM or Airtel lines.

To guarantee transparency, MEC is encouraging political parties, aspiring independent candidates and accredited civil society organisations (CSOs) to place  their representatives to monitor and observer the process.

Meanwhile, following growing misinformation about Smartmatic Election Management System, former MEC Commissioner, Dr Anthony Mukumbwa has come in the open in defence of MEC over its procurement and what the digital system does.

He emphasised that as a former MEC Commissioner, he feels compelled to address the misinformation and misplaced attacks being levelled both at MEC and its chairperson, Justice Annabel Mtalimanja.

“Let me be clear — I was part of the team that made the decision to procure the Smartmatic system,” he says in the public statement. “That process was one of the most transparent and consultative I’ve witnessed in public service.”

“The decision to adopt the Smartmatic system was not made in isolation. Key electoral stakeholders — including political parties and civil society organisations under the Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD) and the National Elections Consultative Forum (NECOF) — were involved throughout the process.

“Smartmatic system demonstrations were made, questions were asked, and answers were given. No objections were raised at the time. In fact, MEC conducted study tours to countries like South Africa, Namibia, and Ghana to assess different election systems.

“Representatives from key political parties were part of those tours. MEC followed all public procurement laws, including obtaining a no-objection certificate from the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA).

“Anyone questioning the legitimacy of the procurement should first understand how public procurement works — and compare it with what MEC did. These decisions weren’t taken lightly or behind closed doors.”

Mukumbwa emphasises that the Smartmatic system “is being used only for voter registration, voter verification and management of candidate nominations — it is not used for voting or vote counting”.

“Malawi’s electoral system remains paper-based, with full paper trails and in-person vote tallying at polling centres. Concerns about rigging through Smartmatic are baseless.”

He thus break down the major fears, that include ’inserting fake voters’, saying “any attempt to register illegitimate voters would be caught at the polling centre. Each voter must present a valid slip, and trained party monitors are present to verify all entries. No results are transmitted electronically — it’s all on paper.

On ‘voter suppression’, Mukumbwa says “if a registered voter is missing from the system on polling day but has a valid slip, investigations can be done on the spot — no legitimate voter can be denied without a traceable process”.

Another fear was on ‘suppression of candidates’, which Mukumbwa contends that “the nomination process is closely monitored and publicly documented. It is virtually impossible to exclude a legitimate candidate without detection”.

He has cleared MEC chairperson, Justice Mtalimanja, saying the concerns on her are misguided as a MEC chairperson “is appointed through the judicial arm of government — not by any political party”.

“While every citizen is entitled to vote for their preferred candidate, the Chair does not — and cannot— make decisions alone. All electoral decisions are made collectively by the Commission.

“Currently, the Commission includes six commissioners drawn from both MCP and DPP in equal numbers. Decisions are made through professional debate, not party instruction.

“During my time at MEC, I saw how difficult it was to influence decisions based on party lines. Commissioners operate independently, and the Chair merely facilitates discussions and communicates agreed decisions.

“The idea that the Chair alone could rig an election is not only false — it’s impossible. Rigging would require the agreement and complicity of the entire Commission and staff, which is structurally and practically unachievable.

“Let’s focus on what matters, the security of elections in Malawi doesn’t rest with the machines or the chairperson — it rests with well-trained party monitors strong presence of civil society at polling and tally centres and active citizen engagement and oversight.

“No rigging can happen outside polling centres — that is where your energy should go, not chasing ghosts in the Smartmatic system. We worked tirelessly with stakeholders to restore trust in MEC. Damaging that credibility now, without solid evidence, will only harm our democracy and future elections.

“If you truly love this country, protect the integrity of our electoral institutions. If you have evidence of wrongdoing, bring it forward — but don’t spread rumours. Elections are not a theatre for speculation, they are the backbone of national stability.

“Let Malawians judge for themselves — is the outcry over Smartmatic genuine concern or political sabotage disguised as oversight?” concludes Mukumbwa.