Atupele, others join combined MEC cases
United Democratic Front (UDF) presidential candidate Atupele Muluzi and other contestants in last Tuesday’s tripartite elections have joined the now combined electoral disputes case which is set for hearing today.
The High Court in Blantyre yesterday consolidated all electoral dispute cases and set today to hear the case from all parties concerned before making a ruling tomorrow before 4pm.
Two issues in contention are whether Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has powers to do a recount and whether the courts or the electoral body have powers to extend the statutory eight-day period under which the commission is compelled to announce poll results.
Matters that were before the High Court in Lilongwe and those before the High Court in Blantyre have been combined, according to one of the lawyers for the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Kalekeni Kaphale.
Kaphale, after meeting High Court judge Healey Potani in his chambers alongside other lawyers for direction, told journalists that Atupele, Peter Chakwantha, a lawyer by profession who has won a parliamentary seat in Lilongwe according to unofficial results, and others, have joined the case.
Kaphale said each lawyer has been given 30 minutes to address the court today and the allocated time for the whole hearing is three hours before Potani makes his ruling tomorrow.
As it is, Kaphale said, an injunction one of the presidential candidates, Friday Jumbe, obtained, is still in force, restraining MEC from vote recount.
Senior counsel (SC) Modecai Msisha was among the lawyers that appeared before Potani to represent MEC.
The issue of contempt of court Jumbe obtained against MEC chairperson Maxon Mbendera and his commissioners was not discussed yesterday, according to the lawyers.
In view of the contempt of court notice, MEC was expected to announce election results by yesterday to avoid breaking the law.
To lawyers representing MEC, MCP and the UDF, cling on Section 113 of the PPE Act and Section 76 of the Constitution and all will be well with you
After all these legal arguments, what does this benefit a common Malawi in Lilongwe or Blantyre or Mzuzu street. This is all about the madness of the architectures of the Malawi Republican Constitution. A friend of mine who is the Professor of Law at the University of Oxford told me that the Constitution is not written for lawyers alone but all citizens. My taking of this statement was that the Constituational langauge is not supposed to be ambiguous but simple and clear. My second observation why lawyers brings different views when the clause in contention is clear. My answer to this is that Lawyers confuse things where they are straight as a way of earning a living. In one, I am not condoning corruption, which I hate so much, but my logic is whether X party ligged or not, where is this madness leading the nation. Announce the results. Perfection is unattainable under this sun.