Former Commissioner says Malawi's democracy immature

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.