Malawi schedules local elections, but is unsure how to pay for them

Voters in Malawi
Malawi plans to hold a long overdue local election next year, but is still not sure how to finance it. Germany, which supports development projects there, says the government must show its commitment to democracy.


After years of delay, Malawi's government has now scheduled local elections for May 2010. Originally, local polls were supposed to take place in 2005, but the government failed to hold the election, saying it didn't have the money to pay for it.

While a date has now been set, it remains unclear how the election will be financed. The Malawi Electoral Commission announced recently that it will need 16 million euros ($22.7 million) to conduct the polls which are expected to have the largest turnout of candidates since the May 2009 general election. According to Malawi's constitution, local government elections must be held one year after the presidential and parliamentary polls.

The problem is that so far every election in Malawi has been donor funded, so it is possible that the election will be cancelled if no sponsor is found.

Germany, through its development arm, the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), says it will not fund the local elections, but wants the government to show that it is committed to democracy by organizing the polls.

GTZ country manager for Malawi and Zambia Elmar Kreutzer told Deutsche Welle that his organisation will instead continue to support sector devolution. "In 2001, three central areas for Malawi-German development cooperation were agreed in government negotiations," he said. "These are basic education, health and democratic decentralisation."

GTZ wants to promote the decentralization of institutional structures and is also trying to educate the people, so they can understand this process.

According to this plan, the country's 40 predominantly rural districts are being helped to finance their own investments and local governments are being assisted in local development planning and in building administrative structures.

Malawi committed to decentralization

Local elections were originally scheduled for 2005 But the Malawi government said the fact that it has managed to put in place institutional structures both at national and local levels which are crucial for the successful implementation of the decentralization process, is already a demonstration of its commitment.

The structures set up according to the government include, at national level, the Malawi Local Government Service Commission, the National Local Government Finance Committee and the Malawi Local Government Association, the ministry of local government said. At the local level, the ministry has facilitated the formation of development structures such as Area and Village Development Committees.

NGOs chastise government's failure

"A government must abide by upholding the constitutional obligation. Local government makes people enjoy the right to participate in national affairs at grassroots level. But it is also a measure of how we value democracy," Dan Msowoya, a political analyst, said.

Msowoya criticized the government for failing to uphold the constitution. "This is a crime. It may also mean that there is an infringement on the political rights of local people such as their right to choose representatives and stand for political position as councillors," he said.

Undule Mwakasungula, executive director of the Center for Human Rights and Rehabilitation thinks that the government's claim that a lack of resources is to blame for the stalled elections is not convincing.

Instead Mwakasungula believes the government was worried about a lack of grass roots support and therefore did not want to have elections because it was afraid of a negative outcome.

"What it also means is that any development activities are just being imposed because the people have no say," Pan African Civic Educators Network executive director Steve Duwa said.

Local assemblies operate illegally

It is still unclear who will pay for local elections What's more, added Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace secretary John Chawinga, the existence and operation of the country's local assemblies is illegal because it violates Malawi's constitution. Their setup creates fertile ground for the abuse of funds because councillors have discretion in the management of local affairs, argued Chawinga.

While the absence of elected local officials is a clear and continuing problem for Malawi, it could be solved if the polls are held as planned next May.