Dar es Salaam – Honourable Richard Msowoya, former Speaker of the Malawi Parliament, arrived in Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania, on 18 October 2025 to lead the Southern African Development Community Electoral Observation Mission to the 29 October 2025 General Election.
As Head of Mission, Msowoya will oversee coordination, leadership, and representation of the SADC Electoral Observation Mission throughout the election process. He is accompanied by members of the SADC Electoral Advisory Council and observers from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, as well as officials from the SADC Secretariat.
The arrival comes ahead of the official launch of the mission on 21 October 2025. Observers are currently engaged in a refresher training programme from 16 to 19 October 2025, covering the legal, constitutional, and electoral frameworks relevant to Tanzania’s elections. The mission will conduct field observations on election day and release its preliminary statement on 31 October 2025.
The Government of the United Republic of Tanzania extended the official invitation to SADC as part of standard practice in member states to observe Presidential, Parliamentary, and Local Government elections. Msowoya’s appointment was made by His Excellency Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika, President of Malawi and Chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, following the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections of 2021.
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