By Linda Kwanjana

The opposition has previously considered the Eastern Region its stronghold – _’kuchipinda/kuchimbundi’ An MCP victory in Mwasa Ward would be devastating to the opposition and contrary to the false narrative that the opposition has been spreading that they only somehow own the exclusivity to the Eastern Region voters, which according to Kazembe is both nonsensical myth and a lie.

The allegations of registration of underage voters or minors are categorically false and without merit. The opposition knows and we know that they are simply scared of an election in Mangochi M’Baluku’s Mwasa Ward. An MCP victory in Mwasa Ward now would mean a serious political breakthrough leading to a landslide victory in the next general election in 2025.

It is not against the law to mobilize would be first time and new voters to register and participate in an election. This is common practice in all democracies all over the world. According to electoral laws of Malawi, anyone who has attained the age of 18 years and above can be legally wooed to register to vote. As a matter of law, legal registration starts at 16 years old but only an 18 year old is eligible to vote. Noone is delusional enough to believe that an underage can stand in line and attempt to vote in M’Baluku without causing alarm.

As a ruling party one of our strategies but not the only strategy, we publicly proclaimed in broad daylight and encouraged potential would be new voters who have reached the legal voting age of 18 years to go and register and vote for our candidate in the said by-election and there is absolutely nothing illegal about that. Infact we also know as a matter of fact that the UDF MP Idi Kalosi was also actually mobilizing new voters allegedly from outside Mwasa ward but the numbers on the ground were still not on his side. We strongly believe that we have simply out-manoeuved the opposition on the ground game in relation to both sealing the old voter demographic and in wooing the new ones in Mwasa Ward.

It is the people of Mwasa Ward who will decide their fate and future not some old and tired politicians and a few vigilantes who have nothing to offer. The opposition should stop taking eastern region voters for granted, go and campaign and offer solutions stop whining and throwing vigilante tantrums. When the voters previously voted for the opposition at the local level they expected proper representation but the opposition didn’t produce anything for the people’s lives.

Does the opposition expect the voters to eat the hate that they are spreading? We, as MCP have been heavily but subtly campaigning this ward for over one year, our request to voters has been simple, give us the mandate through this by-election vote as pawn for development. Moreover we have recruited a great candidate who has preemptively built a brand new mosque and has drilled three boreholes in the ward among many many other things, and has evidently captivated the imaginations of the M’baluku voters to the chagrin of the UDF and the DPP elites. The opposition were ignoring MCP’s campaign efforts, they actually didn’t meaningfully campaign in the ward and only two weeks ago scrambled to feature handpicked candidates and somehow they expected people to be on their side. What finally got their attention was when they witnessed in awe the recent August 20, 2023 historic and electric MCP rally in

Mangochi M’baluku that was attended by over 5000 strictly and only M’baluku walking residents no trucks, understandably this rally has caused chills in their spines, they have been caught pants down. Now after realizing that the politics on the ground is not on their side as a matter of a misguided strategy and to avoid political embarrassment they resorted to vigilanteism during the registration process by intimidating and harassing would be voters and that is simply the reason MEC has suspended the election to a later date few weeks from now, they are simply scared of an election nothing else.

We will not be deterred by the vigilanteism orchestrated by few scared opposition political elites, we are moving forward with our Eastern region attack, we have been encouraged by the cozy reception that thousands of people of Mangochi M’baluku have shown us this past year. Against all odds the voters of Mangochi M’baluku are willing to give MCP a benefit of a doubt. They are simply tired of politics of hate and tribalism. MCP Will contest everywhere including even in Chiradzulu and Phalombe. Lets meet at the poling station in Mwasa Ward.

A certain MCP victory in this ward is a real scare for the opposition for it will certainly open floodgates for an MCP landslide victory in 2025. _This is scary to some._ Gerald Kazembe Second Deputy Secretary General Malawi Congress Party