LocationsStrengthening Future Elections through Lessons from 2025
June 2, 2026
MEC Chairperson Justice Annabel Mtalimanja, seated centre, with UN Resident Coordinator H.E. Rebecca Addah-Dontoh, seated fifth from right, UNDP Malawi Deputy Resident Representative Dr Chika Charles Aniekwe, MEC Commissioners, the Chief Elections Officer, District Commissioners and Officers-in-Charge of Police stations from across Malawi during the 2025 General Election post-election review in Lilongwe.
The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), with support from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) through the Malawi Electoral Support Project (MESP), convened District Commissioners, Chief Executive Officers and Officers-in-Charge of Police Stations across the country for a post-election review of the 2025 General Election in Lilongwe on 1 June 2026.
The consultation brought together key institutions that played a frontline role in the planning, coordination, security and delivery of electoral activities across the country. It formed part of MEC’s comprehensive post-election review process following the conduct of the 2025 General Election.
The review provided a platform for honest reflection on what worked well, what needed improvement, and what practical steps could be taken to strengthen future elections. Discussions focused on electoral operations, logistics, communication, security deployment, conflict prevention, polling day processes, results management and coordination between MEC, councils, district administrations and the Malawi Police Service.
Opening the consultation, MEC Chairperson Justice Annabel Mtalimanja commended District Commissioners, Chief Executive Officers, council staff, District Elections Supervisory Teams and the Malawi Police Service for the professionalism, resilience and dedication they demonstrated during the election period.
MEC Chairperson Justice Annabel Mtalimanja delivers her opening remarks during the 2025 General Election post-election review with District Commissioners, Chief Executive Officers and Officers-in-Charge of Police in Lilongwe.
Your commitment contributed immensely to maintaining public order and ensuring that electoral activities proceeded as planned.Justice Annabel Mtalimanja
Justice Mtalimanja said the review was not intended to assign blame, but to create space for truthful reflection, learning and institutional improvement.
“Only through honest reflection can we identify lessons, strengthen our systems, and improve the management of future elections,” she said.
She added that the objective was not to dwell on past mistakes, but to collectively build stronger, more transparent, inclusive, peaceful and credible electoral processes for the future of Malawi’s democracy.
UN Resident Coordinator H.E. Rebecca Addah-Dontoh delivers her remarks during the 2025 General Election post-election review with District Commissioners, Chief Executive Officers and Officers-in-Charge of Police in Lilongwe.
United Nations Resident Coordinator in Malawi, H.E. Rebecca Addah-Dontoh, described District Commissioners and Police Commanders as critical actors in safeguarding democracy at community level, noting that their experiences during the elections provided important lessons for future reform.
“You were not observers of democracy; you were its custodians, its first line of defense, and its most critical enablers of resolving disputes at the grassroots level,” she said.
She emphasized that the post-election review was an important opportunity to turn lived experience into practical improvements for future electoral processes.
“Today, we are not here to celebrate. We are here to do something more valuable: to examine, to interrogate, and to learn,” she said.
She added:
“This post-mortem consultation exists to extract strategic intelligence from lived experience, to ensure that what worked is institutionalised, what failed is corrected, and what is missing is built.”
Through the Malawi Electoral Support Project, UNDP is supporting MEC in documenting and analysing lessons from the elections, strengthening evidence-based recommendations for electoral security reform and conflict prevention, and supporting stronger electoral governance at district level.
Participants, including District Commissioners, Chief Executive Officers and Officers-in-Charge of Police stations from across Malawi, during the 2025 General Election post-election review in Lilongwe.
Participants reflected on the role of councils in providing administrative and logistical support through District Elections Supervisory Teams, as well as the role of the Malawi Police Service in maintaining law and order, safeguarding electoral materials, protecting election officials and voters, and supporting a peaceful electoral environment.
The consultation also included group discussions on the key issues that affected the conduct of the elections. Participants identified what went well, what could be improved, practical actions MEC could take, suggested first steps, and made recommendations for other stakeholders involved in electoral processes.
The Malawi Electoral Support Project was made possible with support from the European Union, the United States Government, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and the Embassies of Norway and Ireland in Malawi.
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