Petitioners and Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) are keeping their fingers crossed until Thursday when the High Court of Malawi will decide whether the election management system (EMS) should be subjected to an independent audit.
Presiding judge Chimbizgani Kacheche, who last week granted the petitioners their wish for a judicial review, yesterday heard submissions from both the claimants and MEC at the High Court Commercial Division premises in Blantyre.
The claimants in the case are opposition Democratic Progressive Party, UTM Party and five concerned citizens, namely, former Rumphi East legislator Kamlepo Kalua, Luther Mambala, Bishop Chimwemwe Mtuwa, Steve Chimwaza and Jubeck Monjeza.
Through one of their lawyers, Bob Chimkango, the petitioners told the court that free and fair elections mean an electoral process that is transparent; hence, the need for an independent audit.
He cited Section 40 (3) of the Constitution, which gives every person the right to vote in a free and fair election.
In an interview after adjournment, Chimkango wondered why MEC was refusing to have the system audited.
He said: “What is it that is in the system? Are we going into this election on the same footing? Is there anything suspicious in the system?”
Chimkango said they wanted to look at the system that will be used to identify voters, transmit and determine results
Further, the applicants submitted that machines to be used in identifying voters were programmed to switch off at 4pm which they claim could disenfranchise some voters.
Chimkango also argued that the law does not allow transmission of results electronically.
But Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda, who is representing MEC, asked the court to dismiss the case with costs, saying the applicants are acting on speculation because MEC has been acting transparently.
In an interview after the hearing, he said there is no law that gives any party the right to audit the system.
On the use of electronic devices, Nyirenda said the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections Act gives MEC power to use modern technology.
He also said the audit scope shows that the exercise would take four weeks, which would mean the September 16 voting day would be shifted.
Former Attorney General Kalekeni Kaphale and Felix Tambulasi are the other lawyers in the petitioners’ legal team.
In their application, the claimants want the court to declare as unlawful the commission’s decision to refuse an audit of the EMS. They also challenge the use of electronic management devices to identify voters and electronic transmission of results in the September 16 General Election.
In June, MEC rejected a joint proposal by five opposition parties to conduct an independent audit of its EMS, citing constitutional independence, legal insufficiency and technical inaccuracies in the proposed scope.
The scope was collectively submitted by DPP, Alliance for Democracy, People’s Party, United Democratic Front and UTM Party.
