By Wanangwa Tembo

Kasungu, November 25, Mana: Democratic electoral processes are predicated on the assumption that voters will make informed choices and the importance of an informed electorate is reflected in international norms that place significant value on the importance of civic education.

As part of the processes leading to the September 16, 2025 General Elections, the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) is conducting voter identification exercise whose third and last phase starts this Thursday and will end on December 11.

National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) Public Trust Executive Director, Gray Kalindekafe says voter registration process is a fundamental pillar that upholds the integrity of the entire electoral system, describing it a bedrock upon which the legitimacy of elections rests.

“The shared aspiration to participate in the democratic process can only be realised if the voter registration process is accessible and inclusive, where every eligible citizen, regardless of their status and location, has the opportunity to register and vote.

“This inclusivity is crucial in a diverse society like Malawi, where marginalised groups often face barriers to participation. By addressing these barriers through targeted outreach and simplified registration procedures, the electoral process becomes a true reflection of the people’s will,” Kalindekafe says.

He says Nice takes civic education as a crucial element of the electoral process and employs various methodologies in what it calls a ‘360 Degrees’ approach to civic education where the mission is to leave no one behind.

“People’s participation is the hallmark of democracy. To get them involved, we need a robust voter registration that is transparent. This transparency is achieved through public awareness campaigns that educate citizens about the registration process and their rights.

“When people understand how the system works and their role within it, they are more likely to trust and engage with it. So this is where we come in, employing strategies that reach everyone, regardless of where they are,” he says.

The 360 Degrees strategy involves bombarding all available mediums – the air, water and land – with messages about election processes and citizen participation.

Specifically, it involves the use of music and dance shows, radio and television programmes such as jingles, drama, debate and music.

Additionally, it employs village community meetings, letters and door-to-door visitations, interactive sports bonanzas, drama performances, visits to video show rooms, interactions with bicycle taxi operators and fishermen in water bodies and every other available space for mobilisation.

“We understand the electorate comprises of people with different literacy levels and capabilities hence the model guides us to use various approaches that befit the audience being targeted.

“It worked well in 2014, 2019, 2020 and we are using it in the current processes beginning with voter registration. And with a team of over 12 000 volunteers and programmes officers in all districts across the country, we are assured of reaching out to every person that needs to participate,” Kalindekafe says.

A visit to some districts in the central and southern regions last week revealed that registration numbers had picked up, raising hope for better outcomes than feared.

In Kasungu, District Programmes Officer, Gerald Chirwa says numbers were bad in the initial days of the registration but improved in the subsequent days following a successful mobilisation campaign.

“There is a trend that people tend to do things at the last instance. It was the same with the registration. But we are hopeful that we will have good figures looking at the interventions that we employed.

“We chose democracy and it has its pillars, one being that people must participate in electoral processes, specifically, choosing their leaders. It is a process that starts with voter registration, so people must always be willing to take part in this process or democracy will die,” Chirwa says.

His Zomba and Blantyre and Dowa counterparts also describe the turnout as being fair, pointing out that more women turned out than men.

“We used various strategies to woo people to register such as letters read in prayer houses, night criers, market visits, village meetings, mobile vans and many others.

“One thing that has to be appreciated is that there has been an increase in the number of registration centres which also means that distances have significantly reduce. On its own, this should have been an encouragement for people to go and register,” says Kondwani Neba, officer for Zomba.  

He says citizens must participate in democratic processes such as elections so that they are able to influence the direction of their country.

“When elected officials are truly representative of the population, they are better positioned to address the needs and aspirations of their constituents,” he says.

Elinati Chipwaila of Lupsya Village in the area of Senior Chief Wimbe says she is excited to have registered as a voter, describing it as capital for her children’s future after 2025.

“Messages are all over that we should go and register. The registration process is itself very simple.

“My advice is that wherever the exercise is still in progress, let people go out in large numbers. This is our only political capital and comes once in in a while so we cannot afford to miss it,” Chipwaila says.

On his part Chikumbutso Lyford, from Chibwenza Village in Traditional Authority Chakhaza in Dowa says organisations such as Nice invest a lot and work tirelessly towards electoral processes as demonstrated in the previous elections which should signal to people that participating is important.

He says while participation is not compulsory, good citizenship entails that one must participate in making decisions that affects his or her life, in this case, registering to vote.

There have been calls from various stakeholders to extend the voter registration exercise citing challenges such as alleged unavailability of National Registration Bureau crew in registration centres to assist prospective registrants who do not have a citizen identity card as demanded by the new electoral laws. It is feared the challenges would result in many people being disfranchised and leading to a low voter participation.

However, MEC Communications Officer Richard Mveriwa says the electoral body is impressed with the turnout so far.

The MEC has already registered voters in 28 councils and the last phase will cover seven councils which are Lilongwe City and Rural, Mzimba, Mwanza, Chikwawa, Mangochi and Nsanje.

The commission is yet to release figures for its second phase of the registration which covered Likoma, Nkhata Bay, Ntcheu, Kasungu, Dowa, Luchenza, Thyolo, Zomba, Mchinji and Blantyre.

However, in the first phase, MEC identified 2 224 307 voters against a projection of 3 423 066 12, representing 65 percent.

The first phase covered Machinga, Chiradzulu, Neno, Phalombe, Mulanje, Nkhotakota, Ntchisi, Salima, Dedza, Mzuzu and Karonga where at least 56.7 percent of the projected males and 72 percent of the projected females turned out to register.

In line with the 360 Degrees strategy, Nice looks at civic education as a war against the twin enemies of elections which are low registration and voter turnout and null and void votes.

The 2025 general elections, will be the seventh national contest since the introduction of multiparty democracy in 1994 and the third to be held in a tripartite fashion.

Experience shows that intensive and sustainable mobilisation employing the 360 Degrees paradigm is key in dealing with disinterest, voter fatigue and electoral myths and misinformation that result in apathy.