By Chisomo Kambandanga

Nkhata Bay, May 8, Mana: Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) District Elections Officer for Nkhata Bay, Peter Mukhula, has urged traditional and religious leaders in the district to mobilize their subjects to verify their voter details during voter verification exercise.

Speaking, Tuesday during voter verification and inspection sensitization meeting with traditional and religious leaders in the area of Sub Traditional Authority Mndola, Mukhula said the exercise is scheduled for May 21-23, 2025.

According to Mukhula, the meeting was aimed at equipping the leaders with the knowledge on the importance of voters to verify their details ahead of the September 16, 2025 General Elections.

"We are meeting with traditional and religious leaders across the district to disseminate information about the upcoming voter verification exercise.

This is one of the ongoing exercises in preparation for the general elections and we urged the leaders to take the message to people so that they turn out in large numbers for the exercise," said Mukhula.

He added that the exercise was important as it will rectify issues such as spelling errors, mismatching names and facial elements which cannot be corrected on the polling day.

“Those who lost their voter registration certificates or identity cards can still participate in the exercise by providing their names and dates of birth,” he said.

Mukhula informed the leaders that voter verification can also be done through phones by dialing *2509# and entering the voter registration number starting with "G" or National Identity number and that the service is free.

In his remarks, Sub Traditional Authority Mndola said the leaders are geared to mobilize their communities.

"As local leaders, we have a responsibility to ensure that our people are aware of their rights and responsibilities.

We will work closely with the MEC in mobilizing people so that the exercise becomes a success.

Mndola expressed optimism that the electronic verification process will help reduce congestion in centres and save time for people.

Consolidated preliminary figures of registered voters indicate that Nkhata Bay has 107, 314 registered voters with 186 polling centres.