Court reinstates Makwangwala
The High Court in Malawi’s commercial city, Blantyre, on Thursday ruled that UDF secretary general (SG) Kennedy Makwangwala was not given sufficient notice for disciplinary hearing before he was suspended from the party.
The court lifted the injunction which was obtained by the United Democratic Front (UDF) interim president Friday Jumbe’s faction stopping Makwangwala from discharging duties as secretary general or acting as an agent of the party, including convening and presiding over any national executive committee (NEC) meeting.
But soon after Judge Joseph Manyungwa delivered his ruling in a courtroom housed in the new complex, Makwangwala’s supporters manhandled Jumbe’s faction deputy publicity secretary Ken Msonda.
One of the assailants spat on Msonda’s face whereas others held onto his jacket which in the process lost some buttons. Msonda was given a few slaps before he was whisked away by a colleague in a white pick-up.
Makwangwala, along with Eastern Region governor Abubakar Mbaya, tried in vain to stop the aggressive youths from further harming Msonda whose crime was said to be interviews he grants to the media.
Msonda’s attackers accused him of saying bad things against the other camp in the interviews, especially on the radio. The scuffle was a reminder of ugly scenes that characterised Malawi Congress Party (MCP) court cases when there was a leadership wrangle.
After the ruling, Makwangwala said the court decision is a relief and that he will go ahead to convene the meeting which, he said, aims at finding a lasting solution to the leadership wrangle in the party.
On the other hand, Humphrey Mvula, vice-president on the Jumbe side, said the grouping will seek further legal opinion.
