The Pangolin Online has uncovered a two-pronged plot by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) designed to tilt next week’s elections in its favour and plunge the country into chaos if it loses.
Investigations reveal that senior party officials in the Southern Region are bribing presiding officers to issue double ballot papers to DPP supporters, effectively inflating votes for its candidate Arthur Peter Mutharika.
According to reliable accounts, a meeting was held at Edgar’s Lodge in Mulanje where DPP operatives allegedly distributed money to their youth groups. The youths were instructed to bribe presiding officers to provide them with two ballot papers
Sources further revealed that before the close of the campaign period, DPP officials have been going in villages in Mulanje, Thyolo, Phalombe and Chiradzulu mobilizing unregistered villagers to storm polling centres on election day, demanding to be allowed to vote.
Insiders revealed that the plan is that once these villagers are turned away, they will trigger violent protests, creating the impression of mass disenfranchisement and sparking post-election unrest.
MEC’s registration figures show that the Southern Region recorded lower voter registration compared to other regions, a development analysts say has weakened DPP’s chances of staging a comeback. With its electoral base shrinking, the party is said to be resorting to desperate tactics to destabilize the process.
“This is a deliberate strategy. The DPP knows it cannot win fairly in this election, so it is planning to discredit the polls by creating violence in its strongholds, especially when it becomes evident that Mutharika is losing,” a source close to the meeting told The Pangolin.
The Mulanje revelations add to a growing list of schemes linked to the DPP to unleash chaos before and after the September 16 vote.
Over the weekend, the Malawi Police Service arrested four suspects accused of conspiring to burn markets in Lilongwe and Blantyre to block the movement of election materials and spark nationwide disorder.
Police said the suspects were part of a wider DPP taskforce on violence that has been fundraising and recruiting thugs via WhatsApp groups.
In Ntcheu a teacher at Mbanira Secondary School, identified as Glyton Maganizo, was also arrested after he was caught with large sums of cash intended for bribing teachers serving as presiding officers to support a vote rigging plot by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Tuesday’s elections.
According to police reports, Maganizo was found distributing K300,000 each to fellow teachers assigned as polling staff in the district. He is said to have been working in four groups that were dispatched to different schools where voting will take place.
In Mulanje, reports also emerged that Sameer Suleman, an aspiring DPP Member of Parliament in Blantrye, was involved in a similar plot. He had a secret meeting with teachers at a lodge owned by Shadreck Namalomba, the party’s spokesperson and distributed huge sums of money meant to be distributed across Mulanje and Phalombe.
Maganizo has so far disclosed to the police that he was acting on instructions from Norman Chisale, an aid to Mutharika.
Police have since launched a manhunt for both Chisale and Suleman in connection with these incidents.
The DPP is said to have set up a special task force headed by Chisale to organize and coordinate the planned chaos across the country.
These activities have painted a disturbing picture of a party preparing for defeat not with acceptance, but with disruption.
Political analysts say the revelations show that the DPP’s strategy is shifting from winning the ballot to undermining the credibility of the process altogether.
“The evidence points to a calculated plan to delegitimize the elections if Mutharika loses. This includes bribery, illegal voting schemes, arson, and direct violence. It is a dangerous game that threatens Malawi’s peace and democracy,” said one governance expert.
The Malawi Police Service has assured the public it is closely monitoring reports of electoral sabotage and is prepared to thwart any attempts to destabilize the polls.
Civil society organizations, including the Civil Society Elections Interface Forum (CSEIF), have also issued strong warnings that the elections are a “make-or-break moment” for Malawi’s democracy and urged parties to accept results peacefully.
With less than ten hours to voting, the revelations from Mulanje heighten fears that the DPP may trigger violence if polls show Mutharika losing. For many Malawians, tomorrow’s election is not only about who wins power, it is also a test of whether the country can preserve peace and the rule of law in the face of political desperation.
