By Bishop Witmos

Mangochi, August 21, Mana: Malawi Congress Party (MCP) has unveiled Stewart Mwase as its candidate for Mwasa Ward in Mangochi Municipality for the local government by-elections to be held on September 26 this year.

Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) launched the by-election campaign after Mwasa Ward in Mangochi Municipal fell vacant following the death of Councilor Edna Jose. 

Speaking to people who gathered at St Augustine 2 Primary School Ground on Sunday afternoon, MCP Secretary General, Eisenhower Mkaka said the party unveiled Mwase because communities chose him to represent Mwasa Ward

“Any development begins with a choice that people make. Stewart Mwase has been chosen by people to represent them and as a party what we are doing is to give the support to this candidate who has already been chosen by people from the ward,” added Mkaka

MCP Secretary General said councilors are pillars of development in any society because they are a link between the community and the council.

“There cannot be any meaningful development without a counselor, because a councilor connects government directly with the people. As such, this is an opportunity for communities in Mwasa Ward in Mangochi to have a councilor from a ruling party who can ably bring development to the area,” he added.

Mkaka, therefore, asked the electorates to register and to verify their names in the voters’ register, prior to the local government by-election date.

During the day, MEC also started the voter registration and inspection exercise of the voter’s register in the area, an activity that will run for a period of seven days up until August 26.

In a Press Release, MEC Chief Elections Officer, Andrew Mpesi said that during the entire registration and inspection period, the only registration Centre, St. Augustine 2 will be open from 8.00 am to 4.00 pm, and that voters who registered for the 2019 election do not need to register again but they should go and verify if their names appear in the voter’s register.

In his remarks, Mwase said that he started supporting communities in his area even during the time he did not have an ambition of standing as a counselor, adding that he accepted to represent people in Mwasa ward following their request.   

“As a man of development conscious, I have already drilled three boreholes, constructed a mosque and I recently distributed over 2,500 bags of maize to communities in my area using my own money. As such, I accepted to represent people as a counselor,” said Mwase.

MCP Campaign Director, who is also Minister of Information and Digitalization, Moses Kunkuyu, and the party’s Director of Youths, who is also Minister of Local Government, Unity and Culture Richard Chimwendo Banda also asked people in Mwasa Ward to vote for Mwase come September 26.