The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has trained Electoral Management Device operators(EMD) and Constituency Civic and Voter Education Assistants (CCVEA) on the nomination process ahead of the September 16 Elections.
MEC’s regional election manager for the central region, Esmie Chisepeya, said the training was crucial as it would help bring to rest some unanswered questions they encountered.
She said: “We thought that we should equip them with the knowledge and skills so that we carry the same message during the nomination process by taking them through the process.”
She then appealed to the EMD operators and CCVEA to continue exercising professionalism in the discharge of duties.
“They should carry themselves the way they are supposed to. As MEC we do not want to be compromised on some issues. We want them to be attentive,” said Chisepeya.
Chimwemwe Banda, a CCVEA for the Dedza-Golomoti constituency, said the training has helped enlighten them on some of the areas they did not know.
“We have been receiving a lot of questions from candidates and this training has helped us get to know the responses to give them,” she said.
Henry Limited, an EMD operator from Mulanje, said the training will help them as they assist candidates and facilitate the nomination process.
“We are ready to deliver as this is just a refresher training, as we already had one, and we are just being reminded of what is expected of us,” he said.
Aspiring candidates will start presenting their nomination papers from July 24 to 30.
Local government and parliamentary election aspirants will present their nomination papers to returning officers at the constituency tally centre. Before the presentation, MEC will open from July 16 for pre-checking of nomination papers by different aspiring candidates so that they do not have issues when they come for presentation of the papers.
By Kondwani Kandiado
