A letter from the Secretary General of Malawi’s main opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), has demanded for voter registration data from the National Registration Bureau (NRB).
In the letter, dated August 27 and leaked today, DPP Secretary General Peter Mukhito asks the NRB to provide data on the number of persons registered per district since 2020.
“The Democratic Progressive Party would like to evaluate the registration process for national identity cards so far undertaken,” Mukhito writes. “This is part of an exercise in assessing preparatory work for the forthcoming elections.”
The letter states that the party is aware of recent amendments to electoral laws, which make the national identity card the sole identification document required for voter registration.
“The issue of registration under the National Registration Act is crucial to the realization of the constitutional right of every citizen… to vote for a candidate of their choice in elections organized under the Act,” Mukhito says.
The DPP is demanding that the NRB avails the data within 7 days from the date of the letter.
The letter was copied to the Attorney General and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The leaked letter has raised questions about the transparency of the voter registration process in Malawi ahead of the 2025 general elections.
The NRB has not yet commented on the matter.
