AG cracks whip on MEC: ‘Nothing can stop relocation to Blantyre’

A fresh showdown has erupted between the government and the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), with Attorney General Frank Mbeta declaring that there is “nothing” standing in the way of the electoral body’s relocation from Lilongwe to Blantyre.

In what appears to be the strongest warning yet to MEC, Mbeta insisted that President Peter Mutharika’s Executive Order directing the commission to return its headquarters to the commercial capital must be obeyed.

“This is an Executive Order which must be complied with. On the other hand, there is nothing to prevent the implementation of the Executive Order,” Mbeta told The Daily Times.

The Attorney General further dismissed MEC’s reliance on ongoing legal proceedings as justification for remaining in Lilongwe.

“Legal issues alone cannot justify MEC’s position not to relocate to Blantyre,” he said.

His remarks set the stage for an intensifying standoff between the government and the electoral body, which has repeatedly resisted the directive despite mounting pressure from State authorities.

Last week, MEC reaffirmed its refusal to move, with its legal representative, David Matumika Banda, making it clear that the commission’s position remains unchanged.

“The position of the commission, as communicated in that statement, has not changed,” Banda said.

At the heart of MEC’s resistance is a constitutional battle it insists has not yet been conclusively settled by the courts.

The commission argues that although the High Court dismissed its application on February 27 this year, the case was thrown out on procedural grounds rather than on the substantive constitutional questions it raised.

“The commission has resolved that the issues, being constitutional in nature, must be properly and definitively determined by the court,” MEC said in a statement, adding that it is taking further legal steps to seek a final determination.

However, the commission has remained tight-lipped on whether it has formally lodged fresh court proceedings.

The legal setbacks have continued to pile up. The courts recently dismissed a separate challenge brought by three individuals seeking to overturn President Mutharika’s relocation decision, strengthening the government’s hand.

Meanwhile, the pressure on MEC is no longer confined to the courtroom.

The Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) has effectively turned up the heat by announcing that it will no longer pay rent for MEC’s offices at Capital Development House in Lilongwe.

OPC spokesperson Focus Maganga said government had only been covering the rental costs because MEC was operating from the capital city.

“Since MEC is relocating, there is no need to continue paying rentals,” Maganga said.

In another potentially crippling development, Capital Developments Limited, through property managers MPICO, has disclosed that an offer allowing MEC to continue occupying the building expired without any response from the commission.

The developments have left MEC facing pressure from all directions — legal, financial and administrative.

Yet legal experts believe the commission still has options.

Legal analyst Garton Kamchezera said MEC could appeal the procedural dismissal if it believes it has strong grounds.

“If they think they have a plausible ground, they can appeal the court’s decision on the procedural point. Otherwise, they can ask the President to rescind his decision on the grounds that it was outside his powers. If he refuses, they can challenge the refusal through judicial review,” Kamchezera said.

Malawi Law Society President Davis Njobvu echoed the view, saying MEC remains entitled to exhaust all available legal remedies.

“MEC would be entitled to exercise their full legal rights but, as to whether the courts would grant them the reliefs which they would be seeking, that is a different question,” Njobvu said.

The dispute traces back to October last year when President Mutharika ordered four government institutions to relocate their headquarters from Lilongwe to Blantyre. The affected bodies were MEC, the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA), the Malawi Housing Commission and the Malawi Prison Service.

While the other institutions have complied with the directive, MEC remains the lone holdout — setting up a high-stakes confrontation that is rapidly becoming a test of executive authority, institutional independence and the limits of constitutional power.

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