Lawyers fault DPP faction on ‘NGC’ meet

Some lawyers have faulted the national governing council (NGC) meeting which a faction of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) convened in Lilongwe on Wednesday and set dates for the party’s convention, saying it flouted procedures.

In an interview yesterday, private practice lawyer John Gift Mwakhwawa said even though DPP secretary general Grezelder Jeffrey stressed that the meeting was in keeping with the September 29 High Court of Malawi ruling that ordered the party to hold a convention within 90 days, her failure to follow laid out procedures rendered the resolutions at the meeting void.

He said: “The meeting flouted party procedures. Every resolution made there would be void because it had to follow procedures.

“It does not mean that the party has to flout procedures to comply with the court judgement. If the central committee did not meet to set the dates for the NGC, then nobody has power to set dates for the NGC.”

The DPP constitution mandates the central committee to set dates for the NGC meeting, call for a convention and determine the agenda for it.

The secretary general is then supposed to consult party leader on the NGC meeting, which then meets and sets dates for the convention.

DPP applied for a stay of the judgement while the applicants in the case, that include Jeffrey, sought an enforcement order of the court ruling.

The applications will be heard on January 12 2024.

But Mwakhwawa said the party now has two options.

He said: “Because the court appointed a date outside the 90 days to hear other applications, the DPP could try and look for an extension of the 90 days to allow the determination of whatever will be heard on January 12 2024.

“The other option is for the central committee to start the process of convening the NGC, because it still has mandate and power to set dates for the NGC.”

In a separate interview, another private practice lawyer, Khumbo Soko, said the DPP constitution will always provide a way out.

He said: “It will establish how meetings are to be done and the power to convene. If the meeting was convened in a manner which contravenes the party constitution, then the party through internal processes can rectify that, by nullifying the outcome of whatever happened.

“Alternatively, the party can head back to court to determine on whether or not whatever happened on Wednesday was valid due to the fact that there is a court order which compels the party to do certain things within a specified time frame.”

On the other hand, legal scholar Danwood Chirwa, a professor of law at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, said the party was headed for doom.

He said: “What we know is that the party is cannibalising itself due to the factions that have emerged.

“Factions paralyse parties and eventually lead to party disintegration. This is the sure end of all of these factional battles.”

Jeffrey could not be reached for comment yesterday, but on Wednesday she informed the members during the NGC meeting that she tried to no avail to reach out to party leader Peter Mutharika through letters and WhatsApp messages to call for the central committee meeting.