Mulanje voters excited by cinema civics
Voters in Mulanje have expressed excitement by the innovative approaches in the civic and voter education campaign initiatives being used by the Center for Development Communications (CDC) as part of the voter education excise for the fifth phase of the voter registration excise which started on September 2, in Neno, Phalombe, Luchenza Municipality, Thyolo and Mulanje district.
The excited voters have since said that the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) should engage more Orgnisations in the Audio Visual civic and voter education campaign excise.
According to interviews that we carried with participants at the screenings of the Tikavote civic and voter education movie which is part of the joint MEC and CDC Community Cinema and Dialogue initiative in the mass civic and voter awareness program for the ongoing voter registration excise indicate that the use of cinema in the voter sensitization excise is having a positive impact on the voter’s willingness to register in the next year’s elections.
“Most of the young people had been saying that they will not go to register because of the long hours one takes at a voter registration center, but after watching this movie, many youths are having a positive attitude about voting and participating in the voter registration excise,” said John Lino of Kandulo village in Traditional Authority Juma.
Similar sentiments were made by Innocent Botomani an Area Civic Education Coordinator with the National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE) Trust at Namphungo Ward in Mulanje West Constituency who said that the use of Cinema in the voter civic sensitization excise had proven to be an effective approach in wooing legible voters to register in the ongoing voter registration excise.
“We have been an intensive civic and voter education campaign within our ward, but some legible voters were shying from the civic education excises, however these cinemas have proven to be an effective means of attracting more people to the voter sensitization campaigns,” said Botomani.
MEC Constituency Civic and Voter Education Assistant (CCVEA) at Mulanje West Constituency Henz Herald Phiri said the free movie screenings were giving legible voters that were shying away from the civic and voter education meetings that the MEC CCVEAs and the NICE ACECs were conducting a last nail.
“We have been explaining about how the voter registration is to be conducted, however the movies are giving the voters a true picture of how the voter registration is to actually be conducted,” said Phiri.
Gabriel Tengani, District Facilitator at the Centre for Development Communications (CDC) the MEC funded Tikavote film has attracted people who were not interested to register as voters to go and register as voters.
“We have noted through the comments and questions that we receive at the screening sessions of the movie that people are excited to go for voter registration as CDC we believe that free and fair elections can be achieved if the electoralates are adequately sensitized on all the electoral process,” said Tengani.
This is broad daylight rigging. The type of civic education described here is being done in being done in DPP strongholds to ensure as many people as possible register. MEC should do the same in other districts particularly Kasungu, Salima and Dedza.
Curse Mtambo and other CSO members but this has nothing to do with the forthcoming protest march, unless you are contributing to Malawi sliding into a Failed State.
how come this video civic education is only starting now, we did not see this happening in the opening phases of registration. is this not one way of rigging? this is the reason why other Quarters want MEC to go back to the opening phases because there had been no civic education. JANE ANSAH HEAR THIS.
Mwayambapo kulira?
Bvuto lanu ndi loti mukutaya nthawi ndikuyenda mmiseu ndi a chi na Mtambo anzanu akukutibulani on the ground.
Sure, Mtambo yu akuluzitsani because anthu akuona kuti yakula ndi nsanje, as a result you will make DPP get what we call sympathy vote similar to what Prof. Bingu got in 2009, a Tembo atavuta ndi section 65 versus budget. So opposition guys get ready and brace for a miserable loss come 2019. I hope if you don’t change course you can as well start composing songs kuti mudzalira bwanji on or around 24 May 2019. May be you will sing the same old song kuti “atibera” Creativity ya a strategist anu a Mtambo wa ndi ya ma Demo basi,… Read more »
Heavy-duty, I know you very well, paja Mtambo simugwilizana chifukwa cha zijazi……mukafuna ndiulula ndi dzina lanu lomwe
Kikikikiki basi imeneyi tiyeni tingoyithetsera pomwepa Phiri
It was there. Kungoti mwina you missed it.
She is supposed to be dragged to court also