Court in Malawi Cancels Presidential Election, Orders New Vote within 5 Months

Regular anti-government protests were witnessed in various parts of the country. Some of the demonstrations involved looting and property destruction, including offices of the government. A police officer and a civilian lost their lives during the protests, it was reported.

According to the Human Rights Commission of Malawi, the security crackdown that followed protests last October saw police officers rape and sexually assault women, some of these acts performed in the presence of the women’s children.

Last December, Catholic Bishops condemned the sporadic violence  in various parts of the country terming it “evil and unacceptable and contrary to human rights and freedoms, which we fought for when we chose multiparty system of government.” 

“We condemn in the strongest terms the violence, in all its forms and manifestations that continues to take place in some parts of the country,” the Prelates in Malawi stated in their December 3 collective message and added, “We denounce this injustice, often based on political, regional and tribal lines, that is being perpetrated on innocent people and their property.”

In the same statement, the Bishops appealed, “In the event that the court ruling does not go in your favour, accept it or challenge the outcome through peaceful and constitutional mechanisms.”

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The Church leaders reiterated the message of peace in their Friday, January 31 collective statement saying, “We urge all people to be peaceful and act as instruments of peace. We believe that our call for peace reflects the aspiration of the majority of the people in this country particularly women and the vulnerable e.g. children and the elderly in villages who are often victims of political violence.”

During the court process, lawyers for the candidates that had lost argued that correction fluid had been used on some tallying forms as evidence of fraud since the changes were being introduced on the forms after they had been signed by party agents.

The lawyers further pointed to cases where polling officials submitted, to the main tallying centre, wrong copies of the results sheet and argued that these cases ultimately implied a flawed process.

On its part, MEC argued that the law was kept throughout the election process. Admitting to the use of correction fluid, MEC lawyers said only procedural information entered incorrectly was altered, not the results.

While wrong copies of the results sheet were submitted in some of the cases, MEC’s lawyers admitted, they clarified that the copies had been duly signed off by party agents and that the tally itself was usually correct.

The Monday, February 3 ruling last about 10 hours saw a panel of five judges read through the 500-page verdict to the effect that a fresh presidential election be held within five months.

Fr. Don Bosco Onyalla is ACI Africa’s founding Editor-in-Chief. He was formed in the Congregation of the Holy Ghost Fathers (Spiritans), and later incardinated in Rumbek Diocese, South Sudan. He has a PhD in Media Studies from Daystar University in Kenya, and a Master’s degree in Organizational Communication from Marist College, New York, USA.