Former commissioner of the Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec)
Garnet Kamwambi has said the country still has a long way to go for it to call
its democracy mature.
Kamwambi made the remarks in an interview in Karonga on
Saturday where he said a true democratic state is that which leaders invest
their energy and time in upholding the constitution and according to him it is
not the case in Malawi.
“I have lived in this country long enough and I am yet to see
a leader who is committed to stick to the rule of law when governing the
nation, all I see are selfish leaders who go about lying to poor Malawians that
we are in a thriving democratic state while we are not,” he explained.
Kamwambi who formerly lectured in the department of political
science at Chancellor College said Malawi’s democracy is full of atrocities for
it to qualify as such.
“Malawi’s democracy dates back to Kamuzu’s time you can
recall that it was a time when human dignity was demeaned to zero levels, going
down the line we have witnessed events like the Chasowa Murder, July 20
massacre and many other politically related fatalities but no president has
used the law to bring culprits to book, ” Kamwambi narrated.
“It is only in Malawi where authorities can embezzle public
funds and get away with it as if they are running a country of lifeless humans
who have no control over matters that affect them what kind of a democracy is
that?” he questioned.
On elections, the Karonga based former commissioner said
apart from the 1958 election the country has not had any credible election.
“I am sorry to say that all election in the country had signals
of rigging including the tripartite one and I do not see things improving
unless we go back to the idea of merit when conducting business as a nation,”
he advised.
According to Kamwambi the malfunction of the electoral
commission is due to what he called segregation and nepotism during appointment
of commissioners as such he said its integrity will always be questioned.
Kamwambi who was commissioner during the 1999 general
elections in which former president Bakili Muluzi came out winner, said he did
not sign for the result because of the various anomalies which marred the
electoral process then.
