Ansah’s MEC deleted data, witness tells court: Suleman demonstration in Malawi poll case continues

November 8, 2019 Wanga Gwede - Nyasa Times 64 Comments

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) information technology expert Daud Suleman has told Constitutional Court in Lilongwe  that the Jane Ansah led  Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC)  deleted  some election’s data from its computer system and servers.

IT expert Sulemani (C) and others walk into the court

Sulemani who started testifying on Thursday told the court that using the relation type of data base the electoral body used, he found unrelated data which raises suspicion.

“When we went for disclosure, they (MEC) provided [us] with data base schemer. Three tables have relationship broken which is contrary to the database. Either, it was designed badly or some pieces were deleted. Deleting the tables messed up the relationship between the tables,” said Sulemani.

His statement was objected to by Attorney General Kalekeni Kaphale representing MEC, saying it was in his sworn statement.

The court overruled Kaphale’s objections.

“Connected to the above gross anomalies we found that no audit trails for user activity or any record to help track activities of all users from the beginning to end in the system which either means that the system was deliberately disabled from tracking system activities or records were deleted at the time the information was being handed over to us.

“In either case, the absence of audit trail is a very serious and unusual anomaly,” Sulemani said in his testimony in a fully packed court room.

The IT expert’s testimony was cut short to allow MEC, the second respondent, to transfer data out of its system for Suleman to upload new data.

However, lawyers for both petitioners and respondents as well as IT experts went to appear in the judges’ chamber and on return to courtroom, Judge Healey Potani of behalf of the five-member panel of High Court sitting as Constitutional Court, announced that the parties had resolved the issues ad that the proceedings will continue Friday morning up to midday where Sulemani will continue with his demonstration testimony.

Sulemani has “a hypothesis” to demonstrate that the election system was compromised.

He told the court that if he entered a new file of the exact data MCP officials received from MEC on the results of the, the computers would show different results from what MEC announced.

Judge Dingiswayo Madise asked Suleman the source of his evidence to which the witness and lawyer Pempho Likongwe responded that MEC had provided the data not only to MCP but to all other parties.

Suleman, a witness for MCP president and second petitioner in the case Lazarus Chakwera, alleges in his sworn affidavit that the election results were electronically manipulated by a hacker who, within milliseconds, ‘elected’ the country’s President in the May 21 Tripartite Elections, ignoring the votes people cast.

Chakwera  alongside first petitioner Saulos Chilima of UTM Party are seeking nullification of the presidential election results over alleged irregularities in the results management system.

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64 replies on “Ansah’s MEC deleted data, witness tells court: Suleman demonstration in Malawi poll case continues”

  1. I can imagine the frustration in DPP camp; ridiculing Sulemani in the process. Just you wait. The next stage in evidence giving is the retrieval of the deleted data. Maybe those deriding Sulemani cannot follow his line of thought but believe you me some judges are following with interest.And remember, the fact that there were some people who were able to access the system, and using private email addresses is damaging enough to MEC.

  2. He has made allegations. It is now time for to deny the facts. Did we have a ghost user? Who is the ghost user?What was the role assigned to the ghost user?
    Did we have multiple entries from one IP address in Blantyre and Mulanje? Did the commissioners approve the results? If not whi did?

  3. If he is an expert, he should not claim about the deleted data but recover and restore the lost data as it was before delating. That is no sense

    1. My brother, you need some schooling. the case is not about data recovery here, inuyo ndi ambwiyanuwo simudziwa kuti kuli ma IT expert.

    2. Precisely especially since Bendulo saidvhe was able to restore all data from the nurses association of Malawi from 1968

  4. ‘Either it was designed badly or some pieces were deleted’ means that the biased MCP IT expert does not know exactly what happened. Whatever he wants to say is not what happened on the voting day but the so called expert believes ought to have happened. This is electronic hearsay and must be treated like any other form of hearsay.

  5. I am not sure why the judges are allowing this dude to cheat them. He is taking advantage of their ignorance in IT issues by making beautiful allegations that the judges are accepting. If he claims some data was deleted why not recover it. When the time of Joyce Banda people were stealing from government and deleting but such information was recovered. It is unfortunate the court are accepting such trash without seeking independent opinion from other external computer experts not from the crook. He claims infoormation was deleted so that he should raise peoples anger because he knows MCP has no case and the only way to escape from shame is to cause anger of the people by making wild allegations because he knows that most MCP members are not educated and will believe in such stupidity.

    1. It doesn’t work in that way, if someone deleted data on the system he administered. It’s really hard to recover in cloud unless if they can allow him to access the same computers data were stored before. I’m an IT, I know how that shit works.

  6. Pa low. Tonse ndi aMalawi. Whoever rules us, he will rule the whole country. 90% of our personal and family success depends on our own daily choices. Whether to work more or not, whether to spend money recklessly or not, whether to go for drinking or not, etc. With APM or with Laz or with SKC, the direction of our personal and family life still remains in our hands. Nobody will take the presidential seat and start distributing money. Make money, manage it and multiply it. Izi za Suleman iiii Koma Kaphale, muchedwa nazo

    1. True. To a certain extent. If you have spare time pls visit the children’s ward at QE and KCH. ….and check the levels if corruption in the country! It is nice to drive a V8 …

  9. Recount physically then compare the two you’ll find lopholes. Please provide us with pupblic whatsapp group so that we can share our thoughts and so on.

  10. This country has experts and we do not need to experts from abroad Sulemani is here lol!!!! do we have cadets here.

  11. in his affidavit Mr. Suleman presented screenshots of output tables which he claimed were the result of a compromised sql server database management system. Now today in court, he demonstrated, using a so called ghost user, that a script can be inserted into the command line with demonstrable alterations in the output tables and consequently the results. Now there is a very erect possibility that the screenshots he presented in his affidavit were from when he had scripted in the corrupting code. So am sorry am not as of yet excited by his simulation.

    1. As an IT lecture, am not convinced with what Sulemani has presented. There are three types of schemers, he deliberately presented inpregnated one to suit his claim. Lets wait for Chisi’s sworn statement

      1. That is exactly what he did! I am surprised people are confusing that with evidence that the RMS was corrupted

      2. So tell me, the schemers that Suleman presented, did he present without tables and so on? what do you want him to present, be clear on your comment otherwise you lecturing are lecturing stupid things to your students. because the tables has all levels of users, and you heard what Suleman has said, some users didn’t even log in to do their work. Stupid IT Lecture.

      3. Nsnu khalani chete ndi umbuli want…Sulemani is the star here musachite Nsanje, IT expert wanuwo my foot u IT womaona maliseche a azimayi? Agalu nonse ndi mbuyanu Pitala

    3. If you don’t know simple English grammar then what do you know about the case? There’s a difference between loose and lose. MARK MY WORDS!!! 😄

  14. Lets remember there will be cross examination amd mec witnesses coming,,, i fear as mamy mcp witnesses are over confident which is dangerous in court and in any issue. They present their case as if they have alreadg won. As a neutral person, i will wait till the end, to conclude what suleman is. In school i prayed basketball with daud and he was tall, but we had chipasula beat us full of short people. Evison matafale sang:over excitement might lead you astray. Bendulo was an example too confident but very arrogant. Tisaphule zisanapsye

    1. He has done he part. The truth is that zachinengo zinachitika pachisankho ichi. Of course the judges will decide depending on who has been “clever” in the court. Remember court do not always deliver justice. Mwanza murders case is the example.

  16. Anything that was entered in the computer system must have come from hard copies on the ground such as forms 60,66 etc, where are they to back up missing or deleted data by MEC?

  19. If Suleman is saying “it was either badly designed or data had been deleted” as an IT expert, does it mean he is not sure yet as to what exactly happened???
    Atiluzisa mulandu nkuluyu

    1. Yes, he is not sure but that is irrelevant as the results in either scenario would be the same …. that the elections were compromised. Why don’t you lot reason with your brain ?

    1. Tippex will be in a better position to answer this good question which has baffled many of us including lawyers.

  22. Kodi why didnt Chilima use the computers paja akati nayeso ndi shasha moipa azaonetsana. ulikuti Chilima wa bodza iwe

      1. Waonekera galuwe your first comment wanena kut ndiwe WA neutral usanamize wanthu. Chilima at first anaberad coz he was given access to their system this time around MEC they give access to someone else u can’t see ndiwe chule weniwen fusek

  24. Kaphale asked which paragraph of sworn statement contains the data schemers and server deletions. Sulemani and his lawyer failed to locate the paragraphs and the judge ordered them to locate the paragraphs before end of sulemani presentation. If they fail then the the statement on MEC data schemers and deletions will be expunged/removed from the witness’s testimony. About 3 slides by sulemani’s own admission in court.

  26. YU ARE RIGHT DA ROOKIE, WHAT KAPHALE IS DOING ITS UNLAWFUL AND RISKY, BWANJI AKUPANGA ZINTHU NGATI OSAZINDIKIRA, NAYENSO IT EXPERT AMAPANGA DELETE IMFORMATION NDI WOPUSA BKOZ HE IS RISKING HIS CAREEER

  31. deleting audit trails in any system is a serious offense as people who that usually do it to so as not to be identified for they have done something fraudulent in the system. This alone is a case on its own as it is against IT policy known world wide

        1. Do you think if the court case rules in favour of DPP that will be the end of the matter? IN your dreams!!!!

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