Leaders of civil society organizations (CSOs) advancing electoral justice and good governance on Monday converged in Lilongwe to reflect on potential factors that would cause voter apathy and violence prior, during and after the 2025 General Elections.
Citizen Alliance (CA) has organized the sectoral engagement meeting with support from National Endowment for Democracy (NED) through a project titled "Coordinating CSO and Citizens to Advocate for Improved Governance".
The participants also drew an action plan that will guide a series of interventions that will lead to violent free elections.
CA Executive Director Baxton Nkhoma said in an interview that as players in the governance sector, they are concerned with the political outlook ahead of the September 2025 General Elections.
Nkhoma feared that the country could experience one of the worst voter apathy among the youth, particularly because of unfulfilled promises from politicians.
"We have observed that most of the young people patronize political rallies not because of their support towards that particularly party, but to receive some monetary and material handouts. This was vindicated in Karonga where young people shunned the by-elections despite featuring highly during the campaign rallies," said Nkhoma.
He also warned CSOs and political parties to brace up for political and electoral-related violence, a development that he said should be attributed to the 'stronghold' syndrome.
On the other hand, Nkhoma pleaded with politicians to desist from using the youth to perpetrate violence during campaign rallies as well as during the voting process.
"We also would like to call upon CSOs to step up efforts to civic educate the people on their right to vote. Political parties, too, should take an active role in mobilizing their members to vote. That way, we will be able to address the problem of voter apathy," he said.
The Coordinating CSO and Citizens to Advocate for Improved Governance Project seeks to build the capacity of civil society and citizen groups to reclaim their critical roles in growing Malawi's democracy against a background of negative developments contributing to the fast shrinking space for the participation and influence of CSOs in Malawi.
