By Gift Mkulichi and Memory Khutuliwa

Blantyre, March 27, Mana: Federation of Disability Organizations in Malawi (FEDOMA) Executive Director Simon Munde has suggested the need for wider literacy in braille among persons with visual impairment and deployment of sign language specialists in polling Centre’s to assist persons with impairments vote for candidates of their choice.

In an interview, Munde said some of the challenges faced by people with visual impairment and those with hearing impairment are failure to read and interpret voter civic education messages that should enable them to make informed decision on elections.

“Some of the messages come in the format that is not appropriate to the people with visual and hearing impairment and other disabilities,” he added and called on special needs education institutions to provide wider braille and sign language literacy to ensure inclusiveness of people with disability on all issues of national importance.

Apart from wider braille literacy and adequate sign language interpreters, Munde said there was need to also provide adequate funding and accreditation of organizations dealing with people with disabilities in voter civic education as an appropriate measure in reducing voter apathy.

“People with disabilities have got right to public and political rights and it's important for them to participate in the decision-making processes as who is going to lead them,” he said.

Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) Communications Director Sangwani Mwafulirwa said the electoral body was in the process of accrediting CSOs to conduct civic and voter education that works with people with various forms of disabilities.

“Such organizations are already working with people with disabilities and it becomes easier for the organizations to reach out since they already know where the people are. The organizations have already skills and knowledge on how to communicate with them,” said Mwafulirwa with assurance that MEC will accredit many CSOs that specialize in working with people with disabilities.

He also said MEC is putting in place measures, ahead of 2025 to ensure fair, credible and inclusive elections.

“No one should fail to participate in the 2025 elections because of disability. We will design messages targeting all people, considering their type of disability and people with visual impairment will benefit from the audio messages.

“We will print braille literature for the people with hearing impairment and they should be assured that there will be visual messages which will also be accompanied by sign language interpretation,” Mwafulirwa added.

On registration period and polling day, Mwafulirwa said all people with disabilities will be treated with priority.

“On the polling day, there will be tactile ballot templates which will be used by those with visual impairment to vote on their own,” he added.

He further explained that MEC will also employ Constituency Civic and Voter Education Assistants who will be placed in the constituency to teach people about elections and will also be tasked to target people with disabilities.