Independent candidates have dominated the race for the forthcoming Linthembwe Ward by-election in Dowa Ngala Constituency, with five out of seven aspirants contesting without party backing, the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has announced.
MEC’s published list shows that only two candidates are representing political parties, while the majority are running as independents in the March 17 polls.
The party-backed contenders are Gideon Chiwasa of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Racheal Meke of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP).
The independent candidates are Blessings Steven Chaguza, Brian Khumbeni, Emily Mwale, Richard Nkhata and Nephtary Zikamera.
Of the seven aspirants, only two, Meke and Mwale, are women, while the remaining five are men.
MEC’s data further indicates that none of the aspirants falls under the youth category and none has declared a disability.
The Linthembwe Ward by-election is part of a series of parliamentary and local government by-elections scheduled for March 17 in areas where results of last year’s elections were nullified due to irregularities.
