By Burnett Munthali
Malawi Freedom Network wishes to publicly retract an article published on May 14, 2025, titled “Smartmatic under fire globally: Why Malawi must reconsider its use in September 2025 Elections.” After receiving a formal communication from Smartmatic’s legal representatives, it has come to our attention that the article contained several factual inaccuracies and misleading claims about the company’s involvement in elections across various countries.
We incorrectly associated Smartmatic with electoral fraud and failures in nations such as the Philippines, Venezuela, Uganda, Bulgaria, and Mozambique—claims that have now been proven to be unsubstantiated. Notably, Smartmatic was not involved in elections in Mozambique and has not provided services in the Philippines since 2022. In Venezuela, the company actually exposed discrepancies in official results. In Uganda and Bulgaria, credible audits show Smartmatic’s technology enhanced electoral integrity.
We acknowledge that these errors misrepresented Smartmatic’s global record and contributed to an inaccurate narrative. We sincerely apologize to Smartmatic and our readers for the oversight.
Malawi Freedom Network is committed to journalistic integrity and transparency. We have removed the article in question and pledge to uphold higher editorial standards going forward.
