The High Court of Malawi sitting in Blantyre yesterday granted Malawi Law Society’s wish for judicial review of the Registrar of Political Parties’ failure to provide information regarding political parties’ funding.
The application for judicial review followed two letters that MLS wrote to the Registrar of Political Parties on July 20 and September 30 2021 seeking information within 15 days on political party financiers ahead of the 2019 Tripartite Elections and 2020 Fresh Presidential Election.
However, the Registrar of Political Parties did not provide the much needed information.
Among others, MLS wanted the court to determine whether the Registrar of Political Parties acted lawfully in failing or omitting to provide the requested information within 15 days.
It further wanted a declaration that in the circumstances, Registrar of Political Parties’ failure to respond or supply information requested by MLS, suffered undue delay and was “unconstitutional, unlawful and unreasonable.”
But in response to MLS’ application, the Register of Political Parties argued that the society’s request was incompetent and deserved no response as the claimant did not pay K20 000 fee for the information request.
Later, MLS paid the K20 000 fee. However, the defendant still failed to provide the information.
Delivering the ruling yesterday, presiding High Court judge Mike Tembo observed that the entire defendant’s defence failed on the application.
Said the judge: “In the final analysis, the claimant’s application for judicial review succeeds and this court finds that the defendant’s conduct in omitting to provide information or a response to the claimant’s request for information herein within 15 days or within a reasonable time was unconstitutional, unlawful, unreasonable in the Wednesbury sense, ultra vires, procedurally unfair and unjustifiable.
“Consequently, this court grants the claimant all the declarations sought as outlined in paragraph five of this decision except the one on fixing time within which the defendant ought to do certain things as sought by the claimant.”
Reacting to the ruling, MLS president Patrick Mpaka expressed satisfaction with the ruling, saying it “is an important and timely judgement in promoting democratic principles of transparency and accountability.”
He said: “It confirms that the public must have ready access to information showing the sources of political funding as a way of curbing corruption and ensuring transparency and accountability by political players.
“The court has extensively referred to the remarks by the then ACB [Anti-Corruption Bureau] Director Martha Chizuma to the effect that political party financing is the heartbeat of corruption in Malawi.”
Section 27 (2) of the Political Parties Act compels political parties to declare to the registrar any donation with a monetary value of at least K1 000 000 from an individual donor.
