By Innocent Manda
Popular presidential aspirant, Ras Chikomeni Chirwa has confirmed that he will not appear on the 2025 presidential ballot due to his inability to meet the revised nomination fee requirement of K10 million.
In an interview with Malawi News Agency (Mana) on Thursday, Chirwa, a known advocate for grassroots political inclusion and the legalization of cannabis, disclosed that he has only raised K5 million out of the K10 million required by Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC).
“I’ll not contest. According to the new MEC electoral guidelines, I must pay the full amount of K10 million in order to obtain my nomination paper, but I’ve only sourced K5 million so far,” Chirwa told Mana.
Interestingly, Chirwa said the funds raised from ordinary Malawians will now be redirected to initiate a cannabis farming project, which he believes will help generate capital for his 2030 presidential bid.
“No, it’s not that I’ll return the money to my well-wishers. They should understand that the money will be used as capital so that in 2030 we should meet MEC demands and join the contest again,” he added.
Meanwhile, MEC confirmed that as of close of business on Wednesday, no new nomination papers for the presidential race had been collected, maintaining the current list of presidential hopefuls at 14.
In a public statement, MEC encouraged all prospective candidates to utilize the pre-inspection period to verify their nomination papers with either their Constituency Returning Officers or the Commission’s headquarters.
“All electoral stakeholders are free to take their nomination papers for pre-inspection by the Constituency Returning Officer at any point they are ready,” MEC said.
The Commission has scheduled the pre-inspection period from 16 to 23 July 2025, ahead of the official nomination submission window.
According to MEC, presidential candidates will submit their completed nomination papers at the Bingu International Conference Centre, while parliamentary and local government aspirants will make submissions at their respective constituency offices.
MEC has further reminded all political parties and independent contenders that the collection of nomination forms and payment of nomination fees will continue until July 30, 2025, excluding weekends and public holidays.
Among the 14 confirmed candidates are incumbent President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera, Malawi Congress Party, Arthur Peter Mutharika, Democratic Progressive Party, Atupele Muluzi, United Democratic Front, Joyce Banda, People’s Party, Dalitso Kabambe, United Transformation Movement and several independent aspirants.
