Chakwera wants State to prosecute MEC officials over  Malawi ‘Tippex elections’

President Lazarus Chakwera has expressed open disappointment with the director of Public Prosecutions office for its failure to prosecute Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) presiding officers over the messy 2019 presidential election which was nullified.

Speaking at Kamuzu palace in Lilongwe, Chakwera said the High Court and Supreme Court determined that hundreds of presiding officers broke the law in their handling of the 2019 presidential election.

The High Court, sitting as a Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court, in the election case, ruled that the use of tippex by some presiding officers in the 2019 presidential election was illegal, among other issues.

“When I say we must clear the rubble, it is important to understand what the rubble is and who is responsible for clearing it.

“Essentially, clearing the rubble means four things. First and foremost, it means removing those from our state institutions who have committed criminal offences. Take the Malawi Electoral Commission, for example. Both the High Court and Supreme Court of Appeals determined that hundreds of presiding officers broke the law in their handling of the 2019 presidential election, and yet today, more than a year after those crimes were committed, there is no sign of any of them being prosecuted by the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, nor is there any sign that they have been dismissed from the public service,” said Chakwera.

The President said the  office bearers responsible for clearing the rubble should not imagine that “we as Malawians will relent from calling for the rule of law or that we will look the other way.”

There was no immediate comment from the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mary Kachale.