During election years, CHREAA undertakes an initiative to educate prisoners in Malawi about their voting rights. As part of this effort, staff and volunteers travel to various prisons to provide essential information and guidance.
In 2019, CHREAA’s team began their educational outreach, visiting prisons in locations including Chichiri in Blantyre, Thyolo, Makande, Chikwawa, Zomba, Mangochi, and Domasi. The goal of these visits was to ensure that inmates were well-informed about how to exercise their right to vote in the tripartite elections on May 21, 2019. In each election year, educational sessions are scheduled to continue throughout the weeks leading up to the election.
During a visit to Chichiri Prison in 2019, Executive Director Victor Mhango and Monitoring and Evaluation Manager Siphiwe Malihera led a session where they explained the layout of the ballots for Election Day. They detailed the process of correctly casting votes for the President, Member of Parliament, and City Councillor. Following the presentation, Victor and Siphiwe engaged with the inmates, addressing a wide range of questions and concerns about the voting process, highlighting important issues raised by the inmates.