Elections in Malawi

Today is the day of the elections of Malawi. We have been awaiting this day for a long time. Millions of dollars have been spent on the campaigns, tons of freebies have been given away, presidential candidates have been riding around on trucks filled with people screaming over loud music for days on end, and thousands of supporters of the parties have been paid on a daily basis to be extra supportive. Even so, the last few days have been surprisingly quiet, at least here in Nkhotakota.

There have been a few polls prior to the elections, but they have been showing a different result every time so nobody really knows how it will turn out. There are four candidates that seem to have a chance. The most probable seems to be the current president, Dr Joyce Banda. She was vice president when the last president passed away about two years ago and she then took over after him. Since that Malawi has been through a few financial scandals and hardships, so many of the people I have spoken to are very critical towards her as a president. However, she has spent tremendous amounts on her campaign, reaching out the even the most remote villages with her loud music and shows, her orange flags and chitenjes and her piercing voice roaming out of every radio in the country every day. Two weeks ago she visited Nkhotakota, flying around the country in helicopter on the final stage of the campaigning. Quite a luxury in a country where most people strive to survive on less than a dollar a day. According to the Norwegian ambassador of Malawi, Asbjørn Eidhammer, her campaigning funds originates from wealthy supporters overseas. Personally, I think she has overdone it a little.

Of the other probable candidates we have Peter Mutharika, the brother of the belated president Bingu Wa Mutharika who passing away left the presidential office to Joyce Banda. He also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under the period of his brother. Then we have Atupele Muluzi, a 35-year-old courageous candidate who wants to give cash payment to all the poor in the country and free fertilizer. Finally there is Lazarus Chakwera representing a conservative party in Malawi with a not so conservative agenda. Actually I do not know what is the actual difference between the politics of each candidate, and I doubt that the average Malawian does also.

This morning I went with my friend James to have a look at the voting at a school nearby. The elections are coming along quietly, apart from a few impatient voters starting riots in the larger cities due to delays in opeing the voting offices. It will be very interesting to see the results coming up the next few days. Who will be the winner of the “big presidential erection”? - as they say here, with the Bantu impediment of distinguishing “R” and “L”.

My friend giving his vote in the local elections.

The voting slip for the Malawian presidential elections.

The election officers explaining about how to fill out the voting slip.

A local woman giving her vote.

Election observers from the German organization GIZ. The two girls in the car were not German, but at least they had come in from Lilongwe.

James' wife showing his voting identification.

When I asked James how they would know if he had given his vote or not if he came a second time to the voting office, he showed me his right index finger covered in ink. "Can't you just wash it off?" I asked. He just chuckled and smiled as an answer.

Battery charging station under construction

The biggest project I am working with this year with Kumudzi Kuwale, is
a project funded by the Norwegian Embassy (or Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, actually). The goal of the project is to develop solar energy
as a viable alternative for lightning and other energy needs for
villagers and businesses in off-grid areas in Nkhotakota.

There are many reasons for using solar energy in these areas: Firstly,
currently villagers are using kerosene, candles or battery powered
lights, which generate in- and outdoor contamination. Indoor pollution
is one of the greatest health problems in Malawi due to use of lamps and
fireplaces indoors. Secondly, the consumption of kerosene, candles and
batteries is very expensive for the villagers, a great part of the
family's income is spent on these products. Also, by going over to solar
energy, we are creating sustainability - less fossile energy is
consumed, but the communities also become less dependent on imports and
transport of high-cost energy products. One might also add the time that
is saved, when villagers do not have to travel long distances for
purchase of the mentioned products.

However, the challenge in implementing solar energy is mostly related to
the investment: A quality solar product can cost around 50,000 kwacha (a
bit more than 100 USD), while the people that are lucky to have jobs
mostly earn between 10,000 and 20,000 kwacha per month. Most people
don't actually have income-generating jobs at all, except for farming
which will give some income during the harvesting season.

That's why we are now trying to develop a model which can make solar
energy accessible to the people. We are developing a model where the
villagers only have to purchase lights and appliances, while the
investment of the battery and the solar panel is left with our company
Kumudzi Kuwale. The way of implementing this is to build a village
charging station, where villagers can rent batteries that are charged
from a solar panel array on the building.

We will build charging stations in four different villages in
Nkhotakota. We are these days just finalizing the first, so it is an
exciting time. The construction of the building itself was started on
March 25, and it is now already almost finished. During the last two
weeks we have, with help from students from NYO vocational skills
training centre, installed lights in 23 houses in this village. We were
expecting to have 30 village customers, but now we have a list of more
than 130 interested customers. The villagers are extremely greatful for
the project, even though some think that our prices are a bit high.

This week I also brought the Norwegian partner group which is visiting
us in Nkhotakota for the yearly review, and we were received with a
spectacular festival of singing and dancing. I take it as a sign of
thanks from the villagers. The dancing and singing truely deserves a
separate blogpost, but it will do with a few photos this time.

Within a week or two we will start renting out the batteries, and it
will be very interesting to see how it goes from there.