Malawi Electoral Commission tells MPs to have credible monitors
The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has advised Members of Parliament (MP) and ward councilors in Machinga to ensure they choose right people to represent them as monitors in the 2019 tripartite elections to avoid unnecessary squabbles during the electoral process.
“MEC will not stop collecting results from polling stations to tally centers simply because your monitors fail to sign the MEC result forms,” Commissioner Linda Kunje responded to Machinga East Constituency parliamentarian Esther Jolobala’s query on unfilled MEC result forms.
The MP was querying why MEC collects results from polling centers with result forms that are not filled by party representatives who are stationed in centers as monitors.
Commissioner Kunje said the monitors belong to parties or independent individuals and not MEC and added that it is the responsibility of parties or individual candidates to choose right and committed people to act as monitors.
She said MEC will always believe that the party representatives in polling centers are literate, mature enough to understand the electoral process and are committed to participate in the processes.
Commissioner Rev Kilion Mgawi concurred with Commissioner Kunje saying the role of MEC is to orient the monitors on their roles while it is the role of candidates or parties to provide them with people of the voting age who are also very committed to stay at polling centers throughout the voting process.
“Give them food and other necessary motivating packages for them to remain throughout,” Mgawi added while observing that some fail to sign on the result sheet or leave polling centers earlier due to frustrations as a results of poor performance of their candidates.
The discussion was part of ongoing MEC consultative meetings on ward demarcation taking place across the country.
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