Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has urged the public to come forward if they have knowledge or information pertaining to criminal records of any candidate contesting in the forthcoming polls so that the electoral body can act, in line with the law.
MEC’s Director of Media and Public Relations, Sangwani Mwafulirwa, made the appeal in reaction to news that a convict, former councillor of Mwanje Ward in Chiradzulu, Douglas Mkweza, has been nominated as one of the contestants in the September 16 polls.
Mwafulirwa said the Commission does not have information regarding the conviction of the said contestant but said a person is not qualified to contest if he has been convicted of an offense involving dishonesty, adding that theft is an example of such an offence.
On June 3 this year, Chiradzulu First Grade Magistrate Court convicted Mkweza under section 259(3) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code (CPEC) for being found guilty of theft of a grader belonging to Malawi Government valued at K500 million, contrary to Section 278 of the Penal Code.
Criminal case number 89 of 2023 states that on February 15 of the same year, the former ward Councillor offered for sale the grader to a Tanzanian national. The grader was deployed in the area by Ministry of Transport and Public Works to grade roads. When the matter was reported to Police, Mkweza fled but later surrendered himself to the law enforcers and soon his trial commenced and he was convicted.
On June 25, 2025, First Grade Magistrate Smart Maruwasa sentenced Mkweza to 24 months imprisonment but suspended it, on condition that he is of good behaviour and that he should not commit any similar offence or any offence involving dishonesty within the next 12 months under section 339 of CPEC.
When asked of his eligibility to participate in the elections during presentation of nomination papers in July this year, Mkweza said his lawyer had given him a go-ahead. However, efforts to speak to his lawyer proved futile as his number could not go through on several attempts.
But in an interview, legal analyst John Gift Mwakhwawa said the former councillor is not eligible to stand, according to the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections Act of 2023, sub section 38(2c).
The section says “Notwithstanding subsection (1), a person shall not be qualified to be nominated for election as a member of the National Assembly or councillor- if the person- has, within the last seven years, been convicted by a competent court of a crime involving dishonesty or moral turpitude”.
