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| National |
| Fake registration certificates unearthed |
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by
Joseph Langa , 06 May 2004
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20:03:44
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A strange registration file was discovered in Dowa during the voters roll inspection exercise containing what are believed to be fake registration certificates and the Electoral Commission has since said they will go to the district to investigate the matter.
The file, number 13 at Mlengwe polling station in Dowa West contains registration certificates for 76 people some of whom were registered in April — long after the registration process was over — while others have no dates.
According to a complaint filed by MCP parliamentary candidate in the constituency, Lyford Chilunjika, some registration certificates in the file have no names or signatures of the staff who issued them and they are not stamped.
Chilunjika has so far filed a complaint to the chairman of the Malawi Electoral Commission copied to the Public Affairs Committee (Pac), the international observers and his party for action.
“The part of the registration certificates normally given to the voter is not detached. No village or chief of the voter indicated,” read part of the report, which has names of all the 76 registered voters in the file.
Chilunjika says in his complaint, he suspects the fake certificates is one of the strategies the ruling UDF is using to rig the votes during the forthcoming elections “since they were discovered re-registering voters in most parts of the country”.
Personal Assistant to the chairman of the commission Willie Kalonga said the commission has not yet received the complaint but said they will investigate it once they get the complaint.
“If it’s true that the certificates have no names, not stamped and that they were registered in April then it’s questionable and we cannot accept it. But we will investigate and it will be easy for us to catch that it’s a fraud,” said Kalonga.
MCP director of elections, Jodder Kanjere who confirmed receipt of a copy of Chilunjika’s complaint also suspects it’s the UDF’s strategy of rigging the votes and called on the commission to investigate the matter saying this may be one of many such files.
Pac programme manager Robert Phiri in a separate interview Thursday also appealed to the commission to investigate the issue seriously if people are to have confidence in the process.
“It’s unfortunate that such things are being discovered now when there are a few days to the elections. If the electoral process is not free and fair we cannot have a good result. There is need to seriously investigate the matter,” said Phiri.
UDF publicity secretary Ken Lipenga could not be reached for comment Thursday.
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