By The Forum
Former president Joyce Banda and her running mate Khumbo Kachali, representing the People’s Party (PP), were the first presidential ticket to submit nomination papers to the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) on Thursday. They were followed by independent candidate Adil Chilungo.
Banda’s choice of Kachali as her running mate evokes memories of 2012, when she first appointed him vice president. Banda ascended to the presidency following the sudden death of President Bingu wa Mutharika, after having fallen out with him over succession issues. She later lost the presidency to Bingu’s brother and political heir, Arthur Peter Mutharika (APM).
APM, leader of the former ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), is scheduled to present his nomination papers and announce his running mate next. DPP remains dominant in the Southern Region, while the governing Malawi Congress Party (MCP) holds sway in the Central Region. DPP has already secured coalition agreements with the Alliance for Democracy (Aford) and the Northern Alliance, which is a bloc of parties with strong roots in the Northern Region.
Meanwhile, MEC, also on Thursday, rejected nomination papers from Nationalist Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential hopeful Daniel Dube, citing incomplete documentation.
MEC chairperson Annabel Mtalimanja explained that the nomination papers were rejected because the statutory declaration form for Dube’s running mate, retired Justice Dunstain Mwaungulu, was incomplete. It lacked two mandatory items: a copy of Mwaungulu’s national ID and a passport-size photograph.
“As a result of these omissions, MEC will return the nomination papers to the candidate to rectify the defects and resubmit,” Mtalimanja said.
Dube, a medical doctor based in the United States, was present at the submission, but his running mate was absent. It remains unclear why the doctor-judge duo failed to meet the MEC’s basic requirements or why Mwaungulu didn’t attend the session.
New orders for the pair: Submit all completed paperwork by 30th July 2025, no later than 16:00 hours.
Malawians will head to the polls on 16th September in a tripartite election to choose a president, members of parliament and local government councilors.
