The High Court of Malawi has discharged an injunction it granted Lovemore Chauwa-Phiri stopping Malawi Congress Party (MCP) from recognising all regional committees.
The injunction, obtained on June 23 2025, also restrained the party from allowing the committees to perform any functions.
During the June 26 2025 court proceedings, Judge Allan Hans Muhome stayed the injunction to allow the committees to continue working, until the matter is heard and determined. This followed an application by MCP for the same, but without notice.
However, MCP applied for further discharge of the injunction with notice, which was supported by sworn statements and skeleton arguments from both sides.
In his ruling on Wednesday, Muhome discharged the injunction, arguing that Chauwa Phiri’s personal interests should not be allowed to affect operations of MCP and that the earlier decision by MCP to extend the mandate of its regional committees up to September 16 was duly made.
Reads the ruling: “This court has considered all the arguments and it is of the view that the injunction will adversely affect the operations of the defendant and cause irreparable damage, as argued. The claimant, who appears to be a busybody, should not be permitted to prioritise his personal interests over the interests of the defendant, as a whole.
“In any event, the decision to extend the regional committees’ mandate was duly made by the defendant’s management committee. These are intra-party wrangles which must primarily be resolved by the generality of the membership of a political party and not the courts.”
Chauwa Phiri sought the court’s intervention on grounds that the MCP management committee, which extended the mandate of the party’s Regional Committees from August 11 2024 to September 16 2025, had no powers to effect that decision, but the Convention.
He represented by lawyer Clement Mwala while MCP was represented by its legal affairs director George Jivason Kadzipatike.
