By Vincent Khonje

Mchinji, March 7, Mana: Political parties and independent candidates have failed to deploy monitors at voter transfer centres in Mchinji.

This was revealed during a monitoring visit by MEC Commissioner Dr. Emmanuel Fabiano on Friday.

Dr. Fabiano expressed concern that, unlike during the initial voter registration, political parties have not positioned their representatives to oversee the transfer process.

"We are concerned that political parties have not sent their monitors as they did during the registration. We have to remember that the transfers are part of the process of registration, where someone who registered somewhere moves to go and register to vote at another place," said Dr. Fabiano.

However, he clarified that it remains up to the political parties and independent candidates to decide whether to send representatives or not.

At Kamuzu Primary School in Mchinji West Constituency, one of the supervisors, Steven Malijani, said the voter transfer exercise has been progressing smoothly.

"Those in need of transfer are coming to the centre and are being assisted accordingly. In terms of staff and personnel, everything is okay," Malijani said.

Initial observations suggest that more voter transfers are occurring in urban areas compared to rural settings.