NICE Trust resorts to 360 degrees strategy for 2019 Malawi elections civic education
The National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE) Trust says it will implement what it describes as a 360 degrees strategy to conduct effective voter education towards Malawi’s second tripartite elections in May, 2019.
NICE Trust National Programs Officer Grey Kalindakafe disclosed this on Tuesday in Lilongwe at a news briefing where the civic education body gave an account of its level of preparedness for the incoming polls.
According to Kalindakafe, the 360 degrees strategy will exhaustively use all available and possible means of voter civic education.
Notable among the new means is civic education through sports where NICE Trust will liaise with football administrators to hold football trophies and bonanzas.
“We want to operate like the military on a battle field where they use all manner of tactics to attack the enemy,” emphasized Kalindakafe.
NICE Tust has mostly used the media, public meetings and artists performances to relay messages of elections to the people.
With offices in all the districts and cities and over 8000 volunteers across Malawi, NICE Trust is the biggest and most reliable civic educator in the country working with hundreds of accredited organisations for the conduct of credible elections in Malawi.
“We need to take advantage of our large base and influence to join those championing for more women parlianentarians in the forthcoming elections,” chipped in NICE Trust Executive Director Ollen Mwalubunju as his turn to speak at the press conference, came.
Apparently, women representation in Malawi’s 193 member national assembly slumped from 22% in 2009 to 16.8% in 2014, a development which has worried many stakeholders.
Mwalubunju said his organization, already working with UN Women and the Center for Multiparty Democracy on the matter, will sensitize the public to encourage more women to contest in the next election.
“In fact, we will loby heads of political parties by using existing legislation such as the Gender Equality Act to encourage them to promote their women aspirants,” said Mwalubunju.
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Youth voter apathy (a big part of the voting population) has reached its highest level due to the fact they are disfranchised and feel left out. Its not because they are not aware about their voting rights. Whilst civics education might assist with rural people (young & old) I strongly feel that other tactics must be applied decisively. An example would be the incentivisation of the youth to vote. This may be in a form of awarding them with airtime/data or paying for their fees for a year if they can prove that they have voted. Once they have voted… Read more »