Politicians who depend on freebies and money to sway voters will quickly face severe authorized penalties as new rules to implement the prohibition of handouts underneath the Political Parties Act (PPA) of 2018 are nearing completion. These rules are anticipated to be tabled earlier than the 51st Session of Parliament, scheduled to start on February 14, 2025.

The guidelines are being finalized by a Reference Group led by the Registrar of Political Parties, Kizito Tenthani. Other members of the group embrace Lawrence Lunguzi from the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), Liness Chikankheni of the Ministry of Justice, Joseph Chintolo from the Registrar General’s workplace, McHarven Ngwata of the Malawi Law Society, and Joseph Chunga from the Political Science Association.

In an interview, Tenthani revealed that the drafting course of is sort of full and can bear validation with civil society and political events earlier than being submitted to the Ministry of Justice by the tip of February. Once the Ministry processes the rules, they are going to be revealed within the gazette and laid earlier than Parliament.

“My expectation is that we will be able to lay the regulations before Parliament within the budget sitting. The issue of handouts is an area where you definitely need regulations so that people understand what exactly handouts are within the confines of the law,” Tenthani defined.

He added that the rules, as subordinate laws, are topic to necessary parliamentary oversight however are unlikely to bear substantive debate or modification.

Malawi Law Society (MLS) President Patrick Mpaka confirmed the constitutional necessity for the rules. “That one is a legal requirement under the Constitution that subsidiary legislation must be laid before Parliament,” he famous, citing Section 58 of the Constitution. This part permits Parliament to delegate powers for making subordinate laws however requires that such rules be reviewed by Parliament.

Thom Khanje, public relations and communications supervisor for the National Planning Commission (NPC), pressured the urgency of implementing the PPA. According to Khanje, handouts stay widespread as Malawi approaches the September General Election, undermining the rules of the Malawi 2063 (MW2063) agenda.

“One of the reasons we keep electing non-performing leaders, including legislators and councillors, is the culture of handouts. It should be one of the issues addressed through enforcement of the Act,” Khanje acknowledged.

Similarly, National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) Trust government director Gray Kalindekafe warned that point is operating out. “The law has been in place since 2018, and it is unfortunate that up to now, there are no regulations. If regulations are still not in place, when are they going to be implemented? After elections?” he questioned.

Tenthani acknowledged issues in regards to the workplace’s capability to implement the rules. Having assumed workplace in April 2024, he emphasised that organising operations is a long-term effort.

“We are working towards implementing the Act, given the time and resources available. We can’t do everything all at once,” he acknowledged, highlighting that many provisions of the PPA are related past elections.

Nearly seven years after the PPA’s enactment, the absence of rules has rendered the legislation ineffective, permitting politicians to evade accountability. Section 41 (1) of the Act prohibits candidates, political events, or individuals contesting elections from distributing handouts. Violators face a superb of K10 million and as much as 5 years imprisonment underneath Subsection (3).

With elections solely six months away, the urgency to finalize and implement these rules can’t be overstated. The political panorama of Malawi is poised for a major shift because the tradition of handouts faces its hardest problem but.

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