In a major blow to former President Arthur Peter Mutharika, participants at the Public Affairs Committee’s (PAC) 6th all-inclusive stakeholders’ conference have unanimously rejected a proposal aimed at forcing the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) to abandon the use of Smartmatic biometric election management devices (EMDs) for the upcoming September 16 general elections.
At the end of the two-day indaba, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Mutharika’s lieutenants who masquerade as civil rights defenders including Boni Kalindo and Silvester Namiwa were left leaking their wounds as they embarrassingly walked out of the conference.
The proposal, fronted by DPP Secretary General Peter Mukhito and the party’s Women Director Mary Navicha—backed by Kalindo and Namiwa—received no support from the diverse group of delegates present, which included political party leaders, civil society representatives, faith leaders, and other stakeholders.
PAC Chairperson Monsignor Dr. Patrick Thawale was firm in his opening address: “We cannot allow political agendas to hijack platforms meant to promote dialogue and unity. Our focus should be on credible, peaceful elections—not political theatrics.”
Justice Annabel Mtalimanja, Chairperson of MEC, reassured delegates that Smartmatic systems are not used for voting or vote counting, but for managing voter registration and result transmission only.
“People will still vote using ballot papers. The counting will be manual. What Smartmatic offers is integrity and traceability in voter registration and result transmission,” she clarified.
Despite this clarity, the DPP and the faction of civil society groups with interests to the opposition agenda, continued to peddle misleading narratives. These included false claims that Smartmatic was involved in controversial elections in Indonesia – a country where Smartmatic has never operated – and that voters would cast and count ballots digitally, which is completely untrue.
The conference participants were firm: MEC must be supported to carry out a credible election using the best available tools. A resolution was adopted endorsing the continued use of the Smartmatic system to safeguard against fraud, citing the widely discredited 2019 elections, which earned the nickname “Tippex elections” due to rampant tampering and irregularities.
From the word go, it was clear that Mukhito, Navicha and the DPP funded civil society organisation were in for a fight, knowing that the stakes are high in their bid to push for this unpopular agenda.
Kalindo and Namiwa showed signs of not compromising or listening to reason as they threw rude and undiplomatic remarks all over, at times angering the moderators of the proceedings.
Despite all these efforts, which were seemingly well oiled by Mutharika’s money to sow doubt, participants were largely unimpressed.
One civil society leader, who requested anonymity, said after the meeting, “It’s ironic that the same party that supported Smartmatic’s adoption in Parliament is now leading protests against it. The inconsistency raises serious questions.”
Others were more direct. Solidarity Alliance Party (SAP) President Dr. Victor Madhlopa said, “Smartmatic offers a more transparent and tamper-proof process, helping to protect the true will of the people. This system prevents another Tippex-style election. Why are we so afraid of technology that improves transparency? The resistance is suspicious. This is not the 19th century. Let’s not fear progress – let’s fear going back to electoral fraud.”
A youth representative at the indaba added, “MEC did its part. They consulted widely, included everyone, and went through a public procurement process. DPP’s last-minute panic smells of desperation.”
In a surprising yet telling moment, Navicha threatened to lead nude protests if Smartmatic is not withdrawn – a threat many dismissed as inappropriate and emblematic of the lack of substantive critique from the DPP. Critics argue that such antics only serve to distract from deeper questions about the DPP’s motives and credibility.
Observers note that the DPP’s sudden opposition to Smartmatic may stem from fears that the system would expose discrepancies in a parallel voter registration effort allegedly carried out using stolen National Registration Bureau (NRB) equipment.
Sources have revealed that more than a million people have already been fraudulently registered outside the Smartmatic system, which lacks the biometric verification that Smartmatic enforces.
“This explains their fear. Once verification kicks in, ghost voters won’t pass the test,” noted one election expert.
Others observe that with voter registration figures reportedly lower in the DPP strongholds, the party wants the entire process scrapped and reset, which would delay the elections and give them time to re-strategize.
The PAC conference ended with a strong consensus: electoral integrity must not be sacrificed for political expediency. The message from stakeholders was clear: the elections must be credible, modern, and transparent—Smartmatic stays, if used correctly and transparently, is part of that future.
PAC is expected to release a formal statement summarizing the resolutions from the two-day conference in the coming days.
One of the participants at the PAC conference
