The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has launched an investigation into one of its clerks, Lucky Mbewe, following reports that he is behind the coordination of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) rigging machinery.
Mbewe’s probe comes amid revelations that the DPP has deployed a network of bogus monitors and has also infiltrated MEC personnel with a mission to compromise clerks across the country in an elaborate scheme to further destabilize today’s voting process.
According to credible sources Mbewe, clandestinely recruited as a MEC clerk, is suspected to be the main coordinator in the drive to bribe election clerks and working with the bogus monitors within the DPP’s grand scheme in the Central Region.
He is believed to be operating from an undisclosed polling centre, but has allegedly been guiding and directing DPP agents in targeted constituencies such as Malembo, Kasiya, and Dowa. The strategy reportedly involves producing null and void votes for the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) in order to tilt the final tallies.
The plot is said to have been facilitated by Aggrey Luwe, a disgruntled civil servant having worked as human resources officer and was involved in the recruitment of the clerks including Mbewe. He was also previously involved in the organization of civil servants’ demonstrations.
Working with some officials at the National Registration Bureau (NRB), Luwe played a central role in the recruitment and deployment of compromised clerks into the MEC system, particularly at polling centres in Dedza, Dowa, and Lilongwe Rural.
One insider told The Pangolin Online that Mkwichi Primary School polling centre has become a hub for such activities, with clerks deliberately working to sabotage ballots cast in MCP strongholds.
At Malembo polling centre, where President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera himself voted, there were disturbing reports of a clerk instructing elderly voters to simply cast their ballots without marking any candidate. This tactic is believed to be part of a voter suppression drive by the DPP in MCP-dominated areas.
Still at Malembo, security officers intercepted a vehicle driver in constant contact with two suspicious individuals who had been posing as monitors.
Police detained and interrogated the pair, later discovering that they were impersonating accredited monitors. They were banned from the premises, though the driver remained in the vicinity.
Similar incidents have been reported in Blantyre’s Soche Zingwangwa, where a man identified himself as a representative of the UTM party. Suspicion quickly arose when UTM officials at the centre denied knowing him, insisting he was not on their list of accredited monitors.
According to UTM’s Terrence Khoza, the man, later named as Steven Mpotazingwe, was spotted wearing an identification tag that appeared fraudulent. Khoza explained that his sudden appearance raised alarm because his face and name did not match any of the UTM-accredited monitors assigned to St. Pius.
Presiding officer Chiza Wankhama confirmed that the man had been seen taking pictures and presenting himself as UTM’s representative. After a brief investigation, it was discovered that Mpotazingwe was not an accredited monitor at all. Before security could take further action, he reportedly fled the polling centre, evading arrest.
This use of bogus monitors suggests the DPP is using both violent and systemic manipulation tactics to compromise the credibility of the election.
MEC has not yet issued an official statement on Mbewe’s whereabouts or the broader allegations, but senior officials confirmed to The Pangolin Online that the Commission is “actively investigating reports of infiltration” into its clerk recruitment process.
Electoral experts warn that if verified, these actions could constitute serious violations of the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections Act (PPEA), undermining Malawi’s constitutional guarantee of free and fair elections.
