MEC collecting data as court defers recount ruling
Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) chairperson Maxon Mbendera yesterday said the electoral body is collecting data from the Lilongwe City South East Constituency whose ballot boxes got burnt in the fire that gutted a MEC warehouse in the capital city.
In a related development, the High Court in Lilongwe has postponed the ruling on the vote recount to a later date next week because the two parties did not have enough time to exchange documents.
Registrar Justus Kishindo said the two parties needed the required two days to look at each other’s files, but this did not happen because of time.
And addressing an irate mob that gathered at MEC offices in Lilongwe during lunch time yesterday, Mbendera, who is a judge of the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal, said they are not above the law and, therefore, still have to hear from the courts.
He also clarified an earlier statement from MEC which said the fire which destroyed ballot boxes scheduled for recount at MEC warehouse was normal.
Said Mbendera: “While we wait for the courts, we are also doing all we can to make sure we settle this; hence, our plea to talk to party monitors in the disputed constituency. If this one fails, we also have plan B, but we cannot disclose this here.
“As regards to the fire, we realise there was something fishy about this and we are investigating. We have investigators on the ground and once this is done, we will submit the report to the courts.”
But Malawi Congress Party (MCP) spokesperson Jessie Kabwila snubbed the MEC chairperson and told him to speed up the process as the party is burning with anger.
MEC declared Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Bently Namasasu as winner of the parliamentary poll in Lilongwe City South East Constituency with 10 956 votes against MCP’s Ulemu Msungama with 10 854, a difference of 98 votes.
But Msungama disputed the votes and went to court to challenge the results for a recount. However, Namasasu challenged the recount in court through an injunction.
