Centre for Multiparty Democracy calls for political party registrar appointment
Centre for Multiparty Democracy Executive Director Kizito Tenthani has called for the appointment of a Registrar of Political Parties to ensure efficiency at the office of the Registrar of Political Parties. Chakwera was speaking in a televised address on Tuesday on allegations that United Kingdom- based businessman Zuneth Sattar had been bribing…
Centre for Multiparty Democracy Executive Director Kizito Tenthani has called for the appointment of a Registrar of Political Parties to ensure efficiency at the office of the Registrar of Political Parties.
Reacting to President Lazarus Chakwera’s speech, in which he pointed out that donations to political parties are fuelling corruption, Tenthani said there is a need to leverage the capacity of the line office.
Chakwera was speaking in a televised address on Tuesday on allegations that United Kingdom-based businessman Zuneth Sattar had been bribing Malawi’s public officers in exchange for government contracts.
Registrar General Chikumbutso Namelo has been acting as the Registrar of Political Parties since the enactment of the Political Parties Act (PPA) in 2018.
“If we consider the magnitude of the problem, which the President has acknowledged, we cannot afford to continue having the Registrar General acting as the Registrar of Political Parties. The office of the Registrar General does not have the resources, the capacity and the specialisation to implement the Political Parties Act. They have their core functions and mandates.
“We need to establish a stand-alone office that will dedicate its time to enforcing the provisions and requirements as contained in the Political Parties Act. So, first things first; let the government establish the office and appoint a Registrar of Political Parties,” he said.
According to Chakwera, the information recorded in 14 ledger books confiscated from Sattar’s business associate Ashok Nair included donations to politicians from all major political parties in the country.
He said this tendency is mostly done by businesspersons whose.
