The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) is seeking to recruit a Chief Elections Officer who will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the electoral body.
The Chief Elections Officer is basically the Chief Executive Officer or the Controlling Officer of MEC and is responsible for implementing the policies and decisions of the Commission as respectively formulated and arrived at from time to time, within the stipulated time frames.
The would-be MEC boss is bound to replace Sam Alfandika who worked for the institution for three years before resigning in April 2021. Alfandika reportedly picked up an international job after quitting MEC.
He started working as MEC Chief Elections in January, 2018 and oversaw a chaotic period at the commission where he was responsible for managing electoral processes.
There were unrelenting calls for Alfandika and MEC commissioners, led by the embattled former chairperson Jane Ansah, to resign following the annulled 2019 Tripartite Elections. Over a period of nine months, Malawians took to the streets to protest the results of the presidential elections in which MEC declared the ousted Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) leader, Peter Mutharika as the winner.
The results of the polls were nullified in 2020 by the Constitutional Court over widespread irregularities, a decision which was later upheld by the Supreme Court.
In June 2020, MEC, under the leadership of a new Chairperson Chifundo Kachale, managed a fresh presidential election where President Lazarus Chakwera was elected.
The commission also conducted by-elections in several constituencies in May 2021 and the elections were described by many stakeholders as free and fair.
According to a vacancy flying in the local media, the incoming MEC boss will also be responsible for preparing and overseeing the preparation of background papers for conferences and commission’s meetings, coordinating the work of commission’s committees, ensuring that suitable training and development is provided for staff to enhance their contribution to the effective and efficient operation of the commission, drafting election reports for the consideration of the commission as well as providing strategic and visionary leadership to the commission Secretariat in order to achieve organizational objectives.