MALAWI has set November 21 as the date for its first multiparty local elections, an electoral official indicated. “We are all ready now, and this is the final fixed date,” electoral commission spokesman Festus Lipenga said. Malawi became a democracy after former dictator Kamuzu Banda’s rule ended in 1994, but the southern African nation has not held local elections since the former one-party state’s local councils were abolished in 1995. More than five million people out of a population of some 11 million are registered to vote. Registration of new voters began in phases last week and is set to end on October 1. Although the minimum voting age is supposed to be 18, the registration process can be difficult because Malawians do not have national identity documents or birth certificates. – AFP