This comes against the background that during the last election very few persons with disabilities were elected and very few participated in the actual voting process.

Speaking to MBC recently, Federation of Disability Organizations in Malawi (FEDOMA) executive director Action Amosi rated the 2014 elections on the participation of people with disabilities as below average.

“There was a little number of people who participated because the playing field was not leveled to help those with disabilities,” said Amos adding that there was a need for affirmative action as it was the case with women rights activism that came up with the 50-50 campaign and subsidized electoral fees to assist women candidature.

“Another thing was awareness; we got the tactile ballot two weeks before elections so it was not enough to educate all the people with disabilities on their use; simply we can say we were left out of the process,” added Amos.

Amos however said disability organizations have started engaging the Malawi Electoral Commission-MEC in readiness for the 2019 elections.

MEC Commissioner Reverend Emmanuel Chinkwita Phiri said they have started meeting the organizations to see how the future elections can be inclusive.

“We had devised some efforts before such as accrediting FEDOMA to help in civic education but there is still room for improvement,” said Chinkhwita Phiri.

He said in future the commission might introduce a subsidized nomination fee for people with disabilities as a way of encouraging them to participate.

“We however continue to face challenges of access to polling stations because most of the facilities we use are schools which were built long time ago and are disability unfriendly,” added Chinkwita.

He said the commission is also engaging the organizations on number of electoral reforms that will be incorporated in our statutes soon.