By Steve Chirombo
Chikwawa, Mana: Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) Chairperson, Dr. Chifundo Kachale called on people in Chikwawa East Constituency to verify their names in the voters roll in readiness for the March 30,2021 parliamentary by-elections.
He made the remarks when he inspected seven centres to appreciate progress for the parliamentary by elections verification exercise.
Speaking when he toured Mapelera, Nkhate Clinic, Phimbi, Nangale, Tsapa, Mpama and Nyangu centres, the Commission’s chief said the verification in most centres was impressive as some centres had hit 40 percent of the verification.
“l think with the number of days that we are remaining with, we will be reaching to our target, at least if we are to reach 60 or 70 percent that would be quite good turn up for this event.” Kachale said.
He noted that in some instances the Biometric Voter Registration operators had their machines backup power running low too quickly and they were consuming a lot of fuel.
The Chairperson added that in other sites, generators were either broken down or they were not functioning as they should, probably due to leakages.
“The plan is to replace those machines and I have been assured by the coordinator of this constituency that everything is being taken care of and the issues are being addressed,” Kachale explained.
He assured the public that the electoral body has the duty to ensure the by-election was managed without irregularities.
“No new voters are being registered and the process is open to both representatives of the parties and the candidates to come and monitor the process” Kachale said.
He added that once voters’ verification exercise is done, the voter register would be made available to all the contesters,
“We are committed to comply to the standards set by the court to avoid a scenario where all investment put into an election is put into waste,” he stated
Chikwawa District Commissioner Representative, Dr. Stalin Zinkanda commended the turn up in most centres saying this was impressive to see people showing up to verify their names in voters roll.
“There is progress and my key two messages are that people should come and verify their names at the same time they should come and vote on the voting day,” he said
Chikwawa East Constituency has 18 registration centres and the verification exercise will closed on March 7, 2021.
