MCP demands fresh investigations into MEC fire

Opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) has taken exception to the declaration by Police Inspector General Lexten Kachama that a fire that destroyed a Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) warehouse containing evidence of the disputed Lilongwe City South East constituency election was not an act of arson.

While demanding that result of the fire probe be made public, the party has also questioned the independence of the investigators.

The fire came hot on the heels of a court ruling nullifying the parliamentary election in which Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Bentry Namasasu was declared winner by 98 votes against MCP’s Ulemu Msungama who successfully challenged the result.

Kachama told journalists last weekend that a probe into the fire established that it was a mere accident and not caused by a person.

MCP spokesperson Jessie Kabwila, however, has demanded a forensic investigation into the matter, disputing the results as originating from a flawed investigation.

“We want an independent investigation because they can’t tell us today it was not arson. Who did the investigation? Who did they talk to? How independent were these people? This is a joke,” said Kabwila.

MCP has always claimed that government had a hand in the fire after several accounts indicated that officials from the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) were seen at the warehouse before it caught fire. Government has disputed the assertion.

“You cannot have a place which was patrolled by a political party, and the National Intelligence Bureau was seen there before the fire, and say the fire was an accident. The many coincidences around that fire are just too much to ignore,” Kabwila said.

She said the investigation should have also looked into who had more to gain from the destruction of the ballot papers and related ballot materials from the disputed constituency election.