The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has released a list of the people it has given a go-ahead to contest for the Presidency seat in the May elections and missing on the list is Professor John Chisi, a lecturer with the University of Malawi, College of Medicine.

According to reports, Chisi has been barred from contesting for being a public official and, therefore, his name will not appear on the ballot. The commission has, however, cleared all the other eleven Presidential contenders who filed their nomination papers last week.

The barring of Chisi has raised fears that the commission may use the same grounds on the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) spokesperson, Jessie Kabwila, who is standing as a member of parliament.

Kabwila has been serving the same University of Malawi but she later submitted a letter asking that she go on a sabbatical leave. However. her letter was not responded to.

Meanwhile, it is not known if Prof. Chisi will challenge the decision by the commission in a court of law.