Aford in legal trap over debt
Two months after being served with an injunction against holding a convention, the Alliance for Democracy (Aford) is caught in another legal trap. This time it is for failure to settle venue damages at Mary Mount Secondary School hall in Mzuzu.
Aford broke out of a major convention with other parties on September 6 at Mary Mount and went ahead to hold a sole convention without the blessing of other party members. The development led to extension of days for holding the convention and extra costs.
The school has since engaged lawyers to take the party to task for failing to clear the debt. School officials on Wednesday refused to comment on the matter, saying the issue was in the hands of lawyers.
However, Aford ‘secretary general’ Christopher Ritchie in an interview yesterday confirmed a debt of over K1 million and others it owes delegates. He regretted the development, saying it has put the party into disrepute.
He blamed the camp under Aford former president Godfrey Shawa, arguing the injunction they got barred them from conducting transactions as a party.
“We are now in discussions with our friends to vacate the injunction so we pay. If the discussions fail, we will challenge the injunction,” said Ritchie.
Former Aford spokesperson Dan Msowoya, a member of Shawa’s camp, said the debts are solely the other camp’s responsibility since it went ahead with elections when the convention was cancelled.
“We don’t know why the people stayed up to Sunday when the convention was supposed to be Friday? It’s their fault,” said Msowoya.
However, Chihana said he would the amount using his personal money.
He did not indicate as to when he would do the payment.
