The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) could be forced out of its headquarters from next Monday, after its landlord threatened to shut the building and repossess it over K274.78 million in unpaid rent. Capital Development Limited, owner of Chisankho House in Lilongwe’s City Centre, has filed a statutory notice in the High Court of Malawi, Commercial […]
The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) is facing mounting internal pressure over a contested relocation to Blantyre, alongside a string of other grievances that its own staff union says risk undermining confidence in the body just as it prepares for crucial by-elections and the 2030 general election. At issue is President Peter Mutharika’s October 2025 executive […]
The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has accused the Office of the President and Cabinet of unlawfully interfering in its staffing affairs, after its former deputy chief executive, Harris Potani, entered the Commission’s offices on Monday despite having left the institution more than a year ago. Potani, who joined MEC in 1999 and rose to the […]
Battle over who runs Malawi Electoral Commission secretariat threatens to plunge poll body into crisis just months before crucial vote A bitter power struggle has erupted at the heart of the Malawi Electoral Commission, after commissioners aligned with the ruling Malawi Congress Party pushed to install a senior officer – reportedly related by marriage to […]
Attorney General Frank Mbeta has launched an appeal against a High Court ruling in the Malawi Electoral Commission relocation saga, arguing that the court determined a key government application without giving the State a chance to be heard. The appeal, filed by the AG’s Chambers on behalf of the Chief Secretary to Government and the […]
Four senior Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) officials, including immediate-past Chief Elections Officer Andrew Mpesi, have been formally charged with misuse of public funds, after appearing before the Lilongwe Magistrate’s Court amid a widening scandal over how public money was spent within the electoral body. Mpesi, who resigned from MEC in May and completed his […]
Former Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) Chief Elections Officer Andrew Mpesi, 49, along with three fellow senior officials, are set to face charges of abuse of office and money laundering, police have confirmed, as the fallout from a growing scandal at the electoral body continues to escalate. Deputy Police publicist Alfred Chimthere named the three other […]
Malawi’s Electoral Commission (MEC) has been accused of squandering a staggering K1.2 billion annually on rental costs in Lilongwe — a jaw-dropping twenty times more than the mere K60 million it would cost to operate from Blantyre, as explosive new details emerge of leadership resistance to a presidential relocation directive. Sources say the vast majority […]
Former Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) Chief Elections Officer Andrew Mpesi has been arrested by Fiscal Police in Lilongwe, in a dramatic escalation of a growing scandal over public money allegedly lavished on his children’s private school fees despite him having already walked out of the institution. Mpesi’s lawyer, Chrispine Ndalama, confirmed the arrest, revealing that […]
The government has suffered another setback in its bid to relocate the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) headquarters from Lilongwe to Blantyre, after High Court Judge Kenyatta Nyirenda dismissed an application to lift a stay on judicial review proceedings. The dismissal blocks the State from immediately seeking to have the judicial review case thrown out – […]
The chairperson of the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), Annabel Mtalimanja, has called on electoral stakeholders to treat democracy as a continuous undertaking rather than a series of one-off events, warning that the quality of future elections will depend on the work done between now and polling day. Ms Mtalimanja, a judge of the High Court […]
There is something almost too on-the-nose about the fact that Malawi’s electoral machinery has been held hostage by an unpaid rent bill. If a satirist had invented this plot — sealed warehouse, unpaid landlord, elections postponed, MPs dropping a lawsuit just as the whole thing was about to be tested in open court — an […]
The Malawi Congress Party has performed a dramatic climbdown, pulling the plug on a bombshell contempt of court case against two of the government’s most senior figures — just days before the matter was due to explode in the High Court. MCP and three of its legislators had been gearing up to face off against […]
A civil society watchdog has issued a scathing rebuke of Malawi government after fresh parliamentary elections in two constituencies were postponed — with campaigners blaming a bizarre bureaucratic standoff over a sealed warehouse for denying citizens their democratic rights. The Civil Society Elections Integrity Forum (CSEIF) said it was “gravely disturbed” after the Malawi Electoral […]
Senior officials from the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) were spotted at the Fiscal Police in Lilongwe this morning, sparking fresh questions over the commission’s finances. Sources close to MEC have revealed that those summoned for questioning include Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mpesi, Director of Finance Khumbo Phiri, Deputy CEO for Finance and Administration Andrew Kankwalala, […]
A legal challenge brought by the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and three of its MPs against two senior government officials, in a dispute over the Malawi Electoral Commission’s (MEC) headquarters, has been listed to begin on August 17. Contempt charges have been filed against Chief Secretary to Government Justin Saidi and Minister of Lands and […]
Attorney General Frank Faroul Mbeta has thrown his weight behind the Malawi Police Service’s investigation into allegations of financial mismanagement at the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), delivering a legal opinion that directly undermines the commission’s attempts to delay the probe. In a formal advisory to the Inspector General of Police dated 29 July 2026, seen […]
The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and three of its MPs have launched an explosive legal battle against two senior government figures, accusing them of brazenly defying a court order in a bitter row over the Malawi Electoral Commission’s (MEC) headquarters. Contempt charges have been filed against Chief Secretary to Government Justin Saidi and Minister of […]