THE Malawi Electoral Commission has fired two District Commissioners from acting as Returning Officers during the country’s 15 June general elections for “not cooperating” with the Commission. Chief Elections Officer Roosevelt Gondwe says the two men — Geoffrey Mwanja and Martin Mainja — created problems in the run up to the elections. Opposition and civil rights groups have at times complained to the Commission that the two were working in cahoots with the ruling United Democratic Front to frustrate the opposition in the electoral process. Both Mwanja and Mainja deny working for the ruling party, saying, “We are simple civil servants doing our jobs in difficult times.”