Police calm people over dumped ballot, as media advised against sensationalism

Images of what appears to be dumped ballot boxes on Wednesday flooded some social media users as people took to the street in Nyambadwe, Blantyre after claiming to have discovered filled Presidential ballot box dumped in the neighbourhood. –

Dumped ballot boxes from Chilomoni in the city were discovered in Nyambadwe.

Police successfully calmed down some irate people claime to have found a filled presidential ballot box and cried foul of elections fraud.

They chanted ‘atibela mavoti, atibela mavoti’.

Malawi is only likely to have an official result of its chaotic May 20 election in two months, as the Malawi Electoral Commission embarks on a process to manually count the votes.

The May 20 elections was plagued by a plethora of problems including late delivery of voting materials and ballot papers being sent to the wrong places.

Meanwhile, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Malawi Chapter, the Media Council of Malawi (MCM) and the Malawi Editors Forum (MAEF) have appealed to all journalists and media outlets in the country to uphold professionalism and avoid being used as tools for promoting partisan interests.

“We do not condone professional misconduct and parroting of lies and half-baked stories and believe that we have a critical role to play to accurately inform Malawians without fear or favour,” said the media watchdogs in a statement.

Journalists and media houses have been persuaded to remain “vigilant and professional” in their coverage of the elections.

The media bodies also appealed to all Malawians to “remain calm and peaceful” and support the electoral body to undertake its task without any undue interference.

The statement was signed by Anthony Kasunda, MISA Malawi Chairperson; Prof. Wiseman Chijere Chirwa, Media Council of Malawi and Cliff Kawanga, Malawi Editors Forum.

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