Election Fever

Mary, Chief Kalata, Patricia Odinga and Lutani are the four main characters in Election Fever, all deeply involved in the campaigning to elect a Member of Parliament. The entire population of the constituency is gripped by the drama of the campaigning period and, as Election Day approaches, tensions rise to fever pitch and all four become more deeply entangled than they had bargained for.

Set in the North of Malawi, the story lays bare many of the cultural strains and strengths of the Tumbuka people. Election Fever gives us a unique insight into the daily life of the villagers, the manipulation of the poor by the rich, the different roles of men and women in a rural society and the many obstacles they all have to overcome. The story highlights the fierceness and brutality during the campaigning period before the elections and the impressive bravery of the individuals involved.

Unexpected and hugely significant events decide the fates of Mary, the head teacher at Emwezi; Chief Kalata, the principal village headman at Kukaya; Patricia Odinga, a female candidate who had a successful career abroad, and Lutani, a retired civil servant who will stop at nothing to become the next Member of Parliament.

Election Fever is written with great sympathy for the struggles of the personages involved within their local culture as it poses the perennial questions of why people vote the way they do and why people stand for election to positions of power. The narrative is a captivating and singular dramatization of the campaigning and voting process and allows us to get inside the heads of both the parliamentary candidates and some of the most notable constituents.