Youth activists in Malawi push for reduced nomination fees ahead of general elections

By Jamal Jamal

LILONGWE, Malawi (AA) - Activists in Malawi are pushing for reduced nomination fees for the youth ahead of the September 2025 general elections in the southern African nation to enable them to be in “control of their own destiny,” the head of a youth activist group said.

A group of youth activists under the banner of the Youth Decide Campaign have petitioned the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) to consider working out special nomination fees for the youth in order “to increase their presence in decision-making institutions like the national assembly.”

Charles Kajoloweka, the chairperson of the Youth Decide Campaign, told Anadolu that despite the youth being a key demographic in the country, their involvement in polls and decision-making roles has been very low due to financial constraints.

“We are of the view, therefore, that if the electoral body could work out special affordable nomination fees for young people, their participation in polls could be enhanced. We need the youth in both executive and legislative arms of government so that they can be in control of their own destiny,” Kajoloweka said.

“The most unfortunate thing is that we have people who are in a minority dominating decision-making processes and deciding for the youth who are the majority in this country ... Young people have been placed at the receiving end of things. Old people who have money have taken advantage of our plight to reduce us to mere spectators,” he said.

According to the 2018 Malawi Population Census, 51% of the country’s population is below 18 years.

Moses Mwalabu, a youth rights activist, told Anadolu that hefty nomination fees have reduced participation of the youth in electoral processes “thereby depriving them an opportunity to provide their leadership skills in a country in which there are many.”

“There is a need to develop youth-centric policies as outlined in the Malawi 2063 Agenda to create an enabling environment for greater electoral participation by young people. The youth are many in this country, but their involvement in politics is quite decimal because they lack resources. MEC should therefore consider introducing special nomination fees for them so that we can have as many of them (youth) in political decision-making processes,” Mwalabu said.

Sangwani Mwafulirwa, the spokesperson for the Malawi Electoral Commission, said the electoral body is taking on board concerns about nomination fees from special groups including the youth and people with disabilities.

“We are looking at these requests critically and we will consider them when the time comes. We are quite aware of the role and influence that young people have in this country. We will make our stand known in due course,” Mwafulirwa told Anadolu.

Rex Chapota, the executive director of the National Youth Council of Malawi, told Anadolu that his organization is lobbying for resources from organizations to “increase the participation of the youth in elections.”

“We need to have young people at every step of the decision-making process. They own this country, therefore, their involvement in every decision-making process is very crucial. It’s for this reason that we need to have a pool of resources to boost youth participation in political decisions,” Chapota said.

Since the country reverted to plural politics in 1993, the participation of the youth in politics has been decimally low. In readiness for the 2019 elections, MEC slashed nomination fees for youth aspirants following pressure from a youth movement, Youth Decide 2019.