By Wadza Botomani

The leader of Malawi Congress Party Diaspora Network(MCPDN) a diaspora chapter of the ruling MCP, Chalo Mvula has commented on the recent opinion polls by pollster Afro barometer describing the outcome of Opinion polls as not always right. He responded after the recent polls said the opposition DPP would win the general elections if polls were held today.

In his comment, Mvula said opinion polls always need to be taken with a pinch of salt as the outcomes are not always right. “Polls are not a crystal ball but (at best) a decent snapshot of now. Even the wording of polls reflects this focus on the present rather than the future. We have seen all over the world that opinion polls are not final, we are living in a world where people change their minds quickly”. He went on to say another litmus test that people should not disregard is the results of the many by elections that have taken place recently of which Malawi Congress Party and its Tonse partners have done well.

Mvula said the recent polls shows the research was done in February and that since then there are a number of key things that  Tonse government has that  has started bringing confidence to Malawians. He highlighted that milestone development projects have been launched by Chakwera administration since and other factors such as the continuing fights within the DPP camp are reasons enough for Malawians to have total trust in the Tonse administration. Mvula argued that if another poll would be done today the outcomes would be different.

Mvula admitted that it would be naïve for Government to completely rubbish off  poll outcomes  but that  the people’s responses are also a timely reminder to the Tonse government that Malawians are still expecting more and it’s the duty of the government to work hard and deliver for Malawians. “it is true that the challenges are there, the rising costs of  living , people want to see more on the fight against corruption , opportunities for business and jobs for young people, however President Chakwera is trying his best to make Malawi better and that soon , the situation will continue to get better”

The Afrobarometer National Partner in Malawi, the Centre for Social Research, interviewed a nationally representative, random, stratified probability sample of 1,200 adult Malawians between 14 and 24 February 2022. A sample of this size yields country-level results with a margin of error of +/-3 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.