By Sarah Gwetsani
The recent Ward Development Committees (ADC) elections in Lilongwe City saw Malawi Congress Party (MCP) hiring lorries ferrying people from other areas to the venue of elections to pose as voters to make sure that MCP candidates win the positions.
At Ng’oma in Area 50 Lilongwe City Nankhaka constituency, people were surprised to see lorries carrying MCP members to the venue of the elections a development which forced other people to question the large number of people posing as MCP voters.
At Kabwabwa Primary School in Lilongwe City Dzenza constituency, lorries were seen ferrying people from Matanda village to pose as MCP voters on the election day and when the voting was on, people had to come out from classrooms to vote for their candidate.
A total of 258 voters lined up to vote for MCP candidate against 69 for DPP and other opposition parties, from the figures, one could tell that the MCP fully prepared itself for these elections so that its influence not die with the DPP victory in the just ended 16th September, 2025 elections.
Malembe school ground saw voters coming from other areas such as Masonga villages to vote and Dzenza school, people had to sat down without holding elections only choosing who and who to be elected into various committees.
Investigations conducted by this reporter has established that MCP members are doing everything possible to grab seats in the Ward Development Committees afraid of being left out as beneficiaries in the number of programmes government is implementing.
During the MCP rule, the five years of President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera saw MCP members being favored in all government programmes such as Affordable Input Programme (AIP), free food distribution and free cash via mobile phones.
The demarcation of Lilongwe City Central Constituency into five constituencies gave an added advantage to the then Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency Alfred Jiya to concentrate with the new created Nankhaka constituency where the whole AIP fertilizer was diverted to this new constituency.
The fertilizer distribution point at Mvama primary school saw MCP members drawn from Area 18A and B, 49, Shire, Gulliver, and Dubai enjoyed the lions share with the aim of making sure that they vote for an MCP candidate on the 16th September, 2025 elections.
A Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Area Secretary for Chimoka location in Lilongwe City speaking on a strict condition of anonymity, has called on authorities to nullify the elections of Lilongwe City Dzenza and Nankhaka constituencies describing the elections held as bogus.
The MCP member said MCP has heard that within the K5 billion Constituency Development Fund (CDF) there’s a package of K100 million to women groups and youth groups as loans to start up income generating activities.
The source has warned the authorities that failure to hold transparent and credible Ward Development Committees’ elections for Lilongwe City Dzenza constituency, government must forget that the K5 billion CDF will bear fruits.
‘Let the voters be counted and known to each other that they are residing in the area and not just voting for the sake of grabbing seats,” she said.
