A coalition of civil society organisations and concerned citizens under the banner Citizens for Credible Elections (CICE) has notified authorities of plans to stage demonstrations next week, demanding the resignation of Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) Chairperson Justice Anabell Mtalimanja and Chief Elections Officer Andrew Mpesi.
The demonstrations are scheduled for Thursday, June 26, 2025, starting at 09:30 am. Protesters will march from Bingu National Stadium through the Area 18 interchange and Capital Hotel roundabout, ending at MEC headquarters, Chisankho House where a petition will be delivered.
According to the letter submitted to the Lilongwe District Commissioner’s office, signed by human rights and governance activists Edward Kambanje, Sylvester Namiwa, Zynab Hassan, and Nyanyiwe Soko, the march is being organised to protest what CICE describes as the compromised and partisan conduct of MEC’s top leadership.
CICE accuses the MEC leadership of deliberately blocking an independent audit of the Election Management System (EMS) and insisting on using Smartmatic-supplied Electoral Management Devices (EMDs), which many electoral stakeholders have questioned.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the duo’s partisan conduct manifested by the MEC’s rejection of demands by electoral stakeholders to allow an independent audit of the Election Management System (EMS) while clinging onto the use of the Smartmatic supplied Electoral Management Devices (EMDs), is enough evidence for well-meaning Malawians to force the MEC Chairperson and the commission’s CEO to resign,” reads part of the notification.
Organisers emphasised that the demonstrations are a constitutional right and that the letter serves merely to notify authorities for planning purposes, not to seek permission.
