LOCAL elections in Malawi, originally slated for September, will be held next year after voting districts are mapped out in the central African country, electoral authorities said on Wednesday. Supreme Court Judge James Kalaile, head of the electoral commission, said the country would be divided into 900 wards for the country’s first-ever democratic local elections. In addition, the registration process will be computerised, an operation that is expected to take at least six months, Kalaile said. He did not indicate a precise date for the vote, but hinted it would be after the rainy season ends in April.
73 PEOPLE AWAIT DEATH IN ZAMBIA
ZAMBIA’S Supreme Court last year confirmed death sentences for 73 people, the 1999 Amnesty International annual report has revealed. The report, released last week, also reveals that 79 people are awaiting the outcome of their appeals in the Supreme Court. During the same year more than 20 people were sentenced to death, among them two police officers, for murder or aggravated robbery. “More than 150 prisoners remained on death roll at the end of the year,” the report reads in part. Permanent Human Rights Commission chairperson judge Lombe Chibesakunda refused to comment on the crusade by some human rights organisations aimed at compelling the Zambian government to abolish the death penalty. She said as a serving judge it was impossible for her to comment on the matter.