MALAWI: ECM Commissions Challenged to Work Together for Credible Tripartite General Elections
Participants of the meeting
The Secretary General of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM), Rev. Fr. Henry Saindi, has called for collaboration among the Commissions for Justice and Peace (CCJP), Pastoral Commission and the Social Communications Commission – so that they help the nation in delivering free, fair and credible elections in May 2019.
The call was made at Blue Waters in Salima during an Integrated Strategic and Preparatory Meeting on the Electoral Processes ahead of the May 2019 Tripartite Elections. The meeting aimed at exploring ways in which the ECM commissions can work in an integrated manner on the electoral processes in line with the new ECM Strategic Framework (2018-2022). It also aimed at assessing and reviewing the working of the Commissions; increasing and enhancing the understanding of the three commissions and appreciating how the Church’s structures can be utilized in dissemination of electoral messages.
Fr. Saindi said the commissions have to strategize and engage the citizenry on the electoral issues so that they are empowered enough to make an informed choice when electing their leaders in the forthcoming elections.
“Over the years, we have done tremendous work in the management of elections. Without doubt, our footprint in this arena is by no means appreciated by many electoral stakeholders in Malawi and the citizenry at large. There could be certain areas to improve in our respective electoral interventions so as to in contribute to holding free, fair, peaceful and credible polls in the country. This is where we need concerted and integrated efforts, driven by the aspirations of ECM and the Catholic Social Teaching,” said the Secretary General.
He further emphasized that it will be very critical for all Commissions to have a common approach to the elections and to complement each other so as to avoid duplicating efforts and causing confusion within the structures of the Church on handling governance matters before, during and after the polls.
The Secretary General appreciated the efforts so far being made by all the Commissions in the preparations for the elections, which he said are done not in isolation but in a consolidated manner, guided by recent pastoral letter where the Bishops have clearly stated the qualities of a good leader.
“If ECM’s reputation and credibility in entrenching Malawi’s democracy is to be sustained for ages to come, the value of the spirit of complementing our efforts cannot be overemphasized. The CCJP has developed Election Messages; the Pastoral Commission is developing Lenten and Easter reflections on the Bishops’ Pastoral letter; and certainly these will be disseminated by the Social Communications and Research Commission through our Catholic media houses. This is what it means the spirit of collaboration and integration among Commissions,” said Fr. Saindi
Rev. Fr. Henry Saindi making the speech
In addition to utilizing the recent pastoral letter by the Bishops titled ‘A Call for New Era in Malawi’ which outlines a number of qualities of a good leader, the Commissions were also urged to make use of the Church’s strengths and turning them into opportunities.
“The Catholic Church has so many strengths which can be turned into opportunities. These include the large number of Catholic members which is over 30% of Malawi’s population; the well-established Church structures; the Small Christian Communities; and the associations such as Catholic Women Organization, Catholic Men organization and Christian Family Movements. Our task is to turn all these strengths into opportunities during the electoral processes,” continued Fr. Saindi.
During the meeting the commissions also discussed other emerging issues related to the forthcoming elections. Some of these issues include the current leadership crisis; how to end political violence; manipulation of voters with handouts and many others.
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By: ECM’s Stella Zulu
