A social commentator says Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) commissioner Elvey Mtafu’s hearing has shown that she is incompetent and does not take her role seriously.
The commentator Deborah Nyangulu made the remarks following Mtafu’s appearance before the Public Appointments Committee of Parliament.
Nyangulu noted that Mtafu could not say offhand how many commission meetings she’s attended but also gave the impression that when she does attend meetings she was really not part of the process.
“She was unprepared but at least she was honest enough not to put up a performance of preparedness and competency.
“In fact one can say the whole testimony was a performance in incompetency with at times a deliberate exaggeration of that incompetency,” said Nyangulu.
She also faulted the commissioner for not reading the 500-page Constitutional Court ruling that nullified the May 21 Elections.
On MEC Commissioner Mary Nkosi’s testimony, Nyangulu said her sincerity is questionable because she exculpated herself from what was supposed to be teamwork.
Nyangulu, however, praised Nkosi for revealing a lot about election procedure or the lack of it saying this can be used to reform the electoral process.
Said Nyangulu: “For instance, she mentioned that it’s not clear when the commissioners are supposed to sign off results, i.e. before results are announced or after they are announced; she also said she was of the impression that the MEC chair was rushing to meet the 8-day deadline; she also mentioned that it’s not best to use teachers in elections but pointed out the dilemma that would cause if teachers are sidelined but their premises are used as polling centres.”
The MEC commissioners are appearing before the parliamentary committee which is enquiring into their capacity to manage the coming fresh elections.
