By Rose Cross Mahorya

Mzuzu, September 15, Mana: Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has declared the pilot voter registration exercise in Mzuzu City a success.

MEC Commissioner Reverend Phillip Kambulire expressed satisfaction when the commission met members of the Mzuzu City District Elections Supervisory Team (DEST) on Sunday before departing for a similar exercise in Chitipa district.

Addressing the members, Kambulire said during the exercise, the commission has been able to capture both challenges and successes, which will certainly help to improve service delivery of the main registration exercise scheduled to begin on 20^th October 2024.

“The purpose of the exercise was to test the efficiency of the equipment and our officers. We proudly say that the purpose has been accomplished.

“For example, when the exercise was just starting, the officers had challenges capturing subjects on certain backgrounds but in the course of the exercise, they were able to properly adjust the cameras to produce desired pictures.

“During the exercise, we have also seen the officers improving on time spent to capture and record a subject which was good,” said Kambulire.

While acknowledging that the exercise met the challenge of few people turning up for the exercise, Kambulire noted the number of those who came was significant enough for the exercise.

He however asked stakeholders in the city to rise and intensify civic education as official voter registration will soon start.

Mzuzu City Council Chief Executive Officer Gomezgani Nyasulu said participating in the pilot voter registration exercise has helped the council to identify areas that need to be worked on.

“During the pilot exercise, we have noted that very few youths participated, therefore it is a wakeup call for us and all stakeholders to invest more time to encourage youths to register with National Registration Bureau (NRB) so that they can also register for voting,” said Nyasulu.

Mzuzu City is among eight councils where the pilot voter registration exercise is taking place and in the city the exercise was conducted on 13^th and 14^th September, 2024 in Mzuzu City North and Mzuzu City South East Constituencies.