Supreme Court stops Lilongwe election rerun
The Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal on Thursday granted an exparte interim order against High Court Judge Esme Chombo’s ruling for a rerun of Lilongwe City South East Constituency parliamentary elections.
Supreme Court Judge Richard Chinangwa ordered that an interpartes hearing should be heard on January 29 2015 where all parties involved should be concerned.
Malawi Congress Party (MCP) candidate for the constituency during the May 20 Tripartite Elections Ulemu Msungama is challenging the decision of the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) to declare Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Bentley Namasasu winner by 98 votes.
In October last year, Chombo nullified the parliamentary election and ordered a rerun, saying it was difficult for her to decide who won the election in the constituency because of the unreliability of the documentary evidence.
And on Tuesday, Chombo ordered MEC to go ahead to conduct a rerun after dismissing Namasasu’s plea not to implement the order, saying it (application) was done through the back door.
Lawyer representing Namasasu, Chancy Gondwe, applied to the Supreme Court for a stay of Chombo’s ruling which was granted.
“This development means that my client [Namasasu] is still a member of Parliament of the area until further notice,” said Gondwe in an interview yesterday.
Lawyer for Msungama, Emmanuel Chapo, on Thursday said he is yet to be served with the order.
In his affidavit, Gondwe argued that his client is aggrieved by the fact that Chombo’s ruling is not supported by the evidence of the parties, especially the uncontroverted evidence.
