from MAVHUTO BANDA in Lilongwe, Malawi
Malawi Bureau
LILONGWE, (CAJ News) – MALAWI’S awarding of an electronics voting system contract to a controversial United Kingdom-based company, to manage the next elections, has sparked violence.
Smartmatic has secured the contract ahead of the early 2026 general elections in the Southern African country but the company’s checkered past in other elections, in addition to the alleged partisanship by the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), has led to protests in recent days.
Police were this week involved in running battles with citizens that took to the streets of the capital, Lilongwe, calling for the electoral body to cancel the deal with Smartmatic.
Critics do not have trust in a credible election with the company involved, citing controversies in elections in Uganda, and most recently, Mozambique, Malawi’s northwestern neighbour that has plunged into violence.
This is partly because allegations of the mismanagement of Smartmatic electronic marking devices (EMDs) led to vote rigging.
So intense has been the controversy that one of the main Malawian opposition, Democratic Progressives Party (DPP) has disowned its executive, Francis Kasaila, who is the party’s representative in the electoral commission.
This follows utterances attributed to him justifying the Smartmatic voting system.
“The party does not support any system that could undermine the credibility of our elections,” DPP spokesperson, Shadric Namalomba, stated.
The electoral commission recently defended the choice of Smartmatic.
Annabel Mtalimanja, MEC chairperson, told media the agency conducted due diligence before the partnership.
“Our investigations found no solid evidence to support any claims of interference or manipulation,” Mtalimanja said.
The official said Smartmatic remained the sole bidder after Aratek and Miru Systems from Taiwan and Korea respectively withdrew.
Comment could not be obtained from Smartmatic but officially, it describes itself as the world leader in secure election technology, “helping election commissions worldwide modernize their elections with secure, auditable election technology logistics and services.”
In 2019, Malawi suffered the ignominy of holding fresh elections after the Constitutional Court found evidence of vote rigging.
Lazarus Chakwera won the fresh elections ahead of the initial winner, and incumbent, Peter Mutharika.
However, the new government is still to settle, amid recurrent protests by disillusioned citizens in one of the world’s poorest countries.
– CAJ News