MEC rejects Vuwa’s K600m demand

 Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has rebuffed a K600 million demand from Nkhata Bay Central legislator Symon Vuwa Kaunda who claimed damages allegedly suffered following the nullification of his May 2019 parliamentary election victory.

MEC director of legal affairs David Matumika

 Banda told Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) yesterday that the electoral body had written Kaunda’s lawyers to reject his demands.

But in an interview yesterday, Kaunda said the response from MEC will not shake him.

He said the election was nullified because of MEC’s mistakes.

Said Kaunda: “I will, therefore, proceed with the claim to court.”

On August 3 this year,

 Kaunda, through his lawyer Leonard Mbulo, gave MEC 14 days to pay him the damages or face legal proceedings.

The lawyer argued in the letter to MEC that the nullification of the parliamentary result in Nkhata Bay Central Constituency by the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal subjected his client to psychological trauma as people perceived him as

someone who rigged the election.

MEC spokesperson Sangwani Mwafulirwa could not give the details of the response to Kaunda and reasons why MEC has rejected the demands.

“We respect confidentiality between MEC and its stakeholders and that it is why we never took our response to social media as they did. It’s up to honourable Vuwa Kaunda or his lawyers to disclose the contents,” he said.

Kaunda said the matter will proceed to court because the demand was based on irregularities which MEC committed that led to the nullification of his re-election.

Kaunda’s lawyer wrote in the letter to MEC that his client incurred expenses to campaign for the court-ordered fresh parliamentary election held on June 30. Kaunda won the fresh election with 5 422 votes against Mhone’s 5 163 votes.

People’s Party candidate Raphael Mhone, who lost to Kaunda in the 2019 election, challenged his rival’s victory, citing irregularities.

In April this year, the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal nullified the May 21 2019 parliamentary election result for Nkhata Bay Central Constituency after Mhone challenged the High Court decision dismissing his application.

In its judgment, the court faulted MEC for failure to bring original documents before the court to support its position that Kaunda emerged victorious in the 2019 Tripartite Elections