By Mark Phiri

Mangochi, September 1, Mana: Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has suspended Mwasa ward by-election in Mangochi which was slated for September 26 this year, citing several irregularities during voter registration.

MEC Chairperson Dr. Chifundo Kachale announced the suspension on Thursday in Mangochi at a District Election Supervisory Team and Multiparty Liaison Committee meeting.

He said the suspension comes after the commission received complaints from political parties and from what MEC commissioners saw in the Ward.

“We received reports that some political party members were barring other people from partaking in voter registration, saying that they were minors, and also that there were some prospective voter's coming from outside the Ward."

"Under the electoral laws, a person is supposed to register at a centre, in this case a ward where one was born, lives or works. As was alleged, there were some people allegedly wooed by some candidate with a view to register and vote for them" said MEC Chairperson.

He added that the incidents in Mwasa Ward were so disturbing such that registration staff and the commissioners could not discharge their tasks freely.

“From our assessment on how the voter registration was conducted, we are not confident that the process was done in a fair and open manner. The law provides that we can suspend the election 30 days before the polling day and we had no window to rearrange fresh voter registration. Due to this, we had no option but to suspend the election”, he said, adding the by-election will be rearranged later on date to be communicated once things have been sorted out clearly.

In his remarks, Principal Secretary for National Rregistration Bureau, Mphatso Sambo, refuted the reports that the bureau was issuing IDs to the underage for them to vote in the Mwasa ward by-election.

“We are a government entity and we strive to discharge our duty diligently and in compliance to the law If the people saw that the minors were registering, they could follow proper process and lodge the complaint to the relevant officials.

Mwasa ward became vacant due to the death of Councillor Edna Yusuf Jose last year.