News / Africa
Joyce Banda demands recount of Malawi election ballots
22 May 2014 at 14:03hrs | Views
The Malawi president Joyce Banda, who claims discarded and tampered ballots have been discovered in some constituencies.
The Malawi president has called for an immediate manual audit of this week's election results, alleging serious irregularities after the electoral commission reported its vote-tallying system had collapsed.
"It has come to my attention that there (are) some serious irregularities in the counting and announcement of results in some parts of the country," Joyce Banda said.
She said unofficial partial results revealed vote tallies that exceeded the total number of registered voters in some constituencies. Discarded and tampered ballots had also been discovered, said Banda, who faces her first electoral test since she succeeded Bingu wa Mutharika after his death two years ago.
Banda also alleged that the communication devices of some polling monitors had been jammed deliberately, "thereby limiting the monitors' ability to effectively carry out their duties".
"In light of these concerns - and concerns emerging from other stakeholders, which includes other political parties - I call upon the Malawi electoral commission to carry out an immediate manual audit of the whole process," she said.
Election officials announced previously that the electronic vote-tallying system had broken, forcing them to resort to fax and email, and delaying the release of results.
The system "is refusing to take the information from the ground where our data clerks are stationed to send the results", the chief elections officer, Willie Kalonga, said after the vote.
Banda began her term two years ago as a darling of the west, but her government has since been ensnared in a $30m corruption scandal. Analysts named her as the favourite despite the Cashgate debacle, and despite competition from her hardline predecessor's brother, Peter Mutharika.
Mutharika was allowed to run in the election even though he faces a trial for treason. He has been accused of trying to stage a constitutional coup by concealing his brother's death in office. Instead, he allegedly flew his brother's body around Africa as he plotted ways to prevent Banda, then vice-president, from being sworn in.
The Malawi president has called for an immediate manual audit of this week's election results, alleging serious irregularities after the electoral commission reported its vote-tallying system had collapsed.
"It has come to my attention that there (are) some serious irregularities in the counting and announcement of results in some parts of the country," Joyce Banda said.
She said unofficial partial results revealed vote tallies that exceeded the total number of registered voters in some constituencies. Discarded and tampered ballots had also been discovered, said Banda, who faces her first electoral test since she succeeded Bingu wa Mutharika after his death two years ago.
Banda also alleged that the communication devices of some polling monitors had been jammed deliberately, "thereby limiting the monitors' ability to effectively carry out their duties".
"In light of these concerns - and concerns emerging from other stakeholders, which includes other political parties - I call upon the Malawi electoral commission to carry out an immediate manual audit of the whole process," she said.
Election officials announced previously that the electronic vote-tallying system had broken, forcing them to resort to fax and email, and delaying the release of results.
The system "is refusing to take the information from the ground where our data clerks are stationed to send the results", the chief elections officer, Willie Kalonga, said after the vote.
Banda began her term two years ago as a darling of the west, but her government has since been ensnared in a $30m corruption scandal. Analysts named her as the favourite despite the Cashgate debacle, and despite competition from her hardline predecessor's brother, Peter Mutharika.
Mutharika was allowed to run in the election even though he faces a trial for treason. He has been accused of trying to stage a constitutional coup by concealing his brother's death in office. Instead, he allegedly flew his brother's body around Africa as he plotted ways to prevent Banda, then vice-president, from being sworn in.
Source - theguardian
