The European Union (EU) and the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) have deployed teams of election observers into the country ahead of Tuesday’s general election.
EU’s observer mission deputy chief Anne Marlborough yesterday said a 110-member election observation team is in the country in response to Malawi Electoral Commission’s (MEC) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ invitation.
The EU observer mission team pose for a photograph. I Courtesy of EU
The observer mission comprises 11 analysts, among others, that arrived in the country on August 2 2025.
Marlborough said the observation mission will on Thursday issue a preliminary statement on its findings at a press conference in Lilongwe.
“Elections observation is a transparent measure. We will look at the technical details of the elections and we will issue our assessment. We do not want to interfere with the electoral process,” she said.
“Our hope is that the elections are transparent, inclusive and credible and are run according to the code of conduct for the election and laws for elections.”
The EU mission observed Malawi’s elections in 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019 and made a number of recommendations on electoral reforms which have been adopted.
On its part, Sadc secretariat said in a statement published on its website that its observer mission will be headed by former deputy Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Eswatini, Themba Masuku.
Deployment of Sadc’s observer mission follows Article 3 of the revised Sadc Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections (2021) which states that the bloc shall observe all general elections held in its member States.
The Sadc secretariat support team arrived in Lilongwe on September 1 to prepare for logistics for the mission.
It has been observing the pre-election phase and will also observe the polling day and post-election processes to assess the conduct of the election in line with the principles and guidelines that promote regular, free, fair, transparent, credible and peaceful democratic elections.
While in the country, the observer mission will be undertaking consultations with a broad range of key electoral stakeholders, including MEC, political parties, the diplomatic community, civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations, including women and youth-led organisations.
Meanwhile, former Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda will head an election observer mission to Seychelles, which holds its polls from September 25 to 27.
The observer mission arrived in Seychelles on September 9. The mission will last up until October 4 2025.
