As preparations for the 2025 polls are underway, the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) says the coming in of more election management devices (EMDs) is a huge milestone as it means it’ll soon start training people who will be using them.
Speaking on Friday during the arrival of a second consignment of the devices, MEC Commissioner Olivia Liwewe indicated these will be used in September this year for registration of voters which according to law is expected to take place exactly one year before the polls and the process will run up to December 2024.
About 740 gadgets were expected and at this point the process is at over 90 percent of the materials expected to be received.
In total, the Commission is expecting 6500 EMDs for the 6340 polling centres and the extras are to cover for the faulty ones and act as back-ups.
Liwewe explained that through the various processes, the electoral body is engaging various political parties who will also participate in the trainings starting with their Secretary Generals and Director of elections.
The electoral body will also undertake orientation for media personnel and specific ICT staff for parties on the gadgets which have been received.
Additionally, the political parties will also be involved in monitoring the piloting of registration to happen soon after the trainings for use of the gadgets.
She clarified that the people to participate in the pilot registration exercise in selected districts will still have to register when the actual registration commences in September 2024.
“There is also a code in the device for the pilot which means those that will be registered during the pilot will not be considered in the eventual registration register. They will still have to come again in September 2024 to register. So the pilot has a code and the names will not be part of the eventual registration register.
“So they will be fully informed and as we’re piloting them, they will also be informed that they have to come again in September.”
Mackford Somanje Democratic progressive party (DPP) representative expressed satisfaction with the processes of receiving the materials.
However he is of the view that procedures have to be followed upon arrival of the devices for parties to scan the barcodes before loading into trucks destined for warehouses for easy verification.
“When the devices arrive we get the barcodes because right now they’re loading we don’t know they’re loading against what; we don’t have the delivery receipts so you’re loading for the warehouse. If there’s a mismatch how do we reconcile the process?
“I kept quite deliberately because I’m going to the warehouse, I’ll collect all the barcodes for all the devices and the batches”.
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