The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has trained about 229 Civic and Voter Education Assistants in readiness for next year’s general elections.
The temporary staff are expected to be deployed in all the constituencies in the country to conduct civic and voter education.
Speaking during the training held at Mponela in Dowa, the MEC Commissioner, who is also media and civic education chairperson Francis Kasaira, said the officers are crucial in helping fight voter apathy.
“These are the foot soldiers we are sending in every constituency so that we have somebody close to the people to provide the right information and encourage them to take up their responsibility to vote,” he explained.
He also said their position is crucial and demands them to be committed and non-political to ensure a huge turnout during elections.
We must have the right calibre of people who are motivated and ready to do their job as a constituency is big and needs someone who is committed,” he said.
One of the participants, Timothy Mdolo from Dowa North Constituency, said the training has helped them acquire knowledge on how best they can conduct civic and voter education in their areas of jurisdiction to avert voter apathy.
“This training will assist us so that we can assist more people vote so that we determine the future of this country,” he said.
The participants were drawn from Dowa, Salima, Lilongwe, Nkhotakota, Mchinji, Kasungu, Mzimba, Karonga, and Chitip, among other districts and were drilled on electoral laws, voter registration, electoral cycle and processes electoral-related offences.
By Kondwani Kandiado
