The Democratic Progressive Party’s alleged rigging machinery is collapsing under the weight of evidence and the law. Malawi Congress Party (MCP) technology expert, Antony Bendulo, has exposed deliberate tampering with results where votes for President Lazarus Chakwera were cut down in the electronic system while those for Peter Mutharika were inflated. “They tried to hide fraud in the pipes of the system, but the truth has come out. Their scheme is broken, destroyed, finished,” Bendulo declared.
One glaring case shows how serious the fraud was. An original tally sheet recorded Chakwera with 8,033 votes, but in the Smartmatic gadget only 2,445 were entered — thousands of votes wiped out in one stroke. Bendulo said this was not error but organised fraud designed to tilt the outcome. Despite pouring money into monitors and propaganda, DPP’s efforts have failed because technology and vigilance are exposing the tricks.
MCP’s legal advisor, George Jivason Kadzipatike, explained why such malpractice is being caught this time. He said electoral reforms now give the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) up to eight days to announce presidential results, under Section 95(3) of the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections Act. MEC is still well within this legal timeframe. If necessary, it can add an extra 72 hours (three days) to resolve complaints before declaring the final result.
Kadzipatike said this window is vital. “If MEC still had only 48 hours as in the past, all this fraud would have gone unnoticed. Sometimes rushing justice is denying justice. The eight days is what is protecting Malawians today,” he argued.
The link between law and truth is now undeniable. The propaganda of early victory has collapsed, DPP’s narrative has been exposed, and the law has armed MEC with the time to protect the people’s vote.
