Chiefs join calls for Malawi to hold fresh tripartite elections: President, MPs and Councillors

April 26, 2020 Watipaso Mzungu -Nyasa Times 47 Comments

Some traditional leaders from Kasungu, Mangochi, Mzimba and Lilongwe have declared their support for concerned citizens who are calling for fresh tripartite in accordance with the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) ruling in the high profile presidential election case.

Senior Group Village Head Chowe (second from left) addresses the journalists as Inkosana Jere (in summer cap) looks on.-Photo by Watipatso Mzungu Nyasa Times
TV cameras rolling on chiefs at a news conference.-Photo by Watipatso Mzungu, Nyasa Times

The ConCourt annulled the presidential elections, citing widespread and glaring irregularities in last year’s polls as some of the grounds for calling for a fresh presidential poll.

But the chiefs, who were led by Inkosana Mtenje Ntchawaka Jere, told journalists in Lilongwe on Sunday argued that since members of Parliament (MPs) and councillors benefited from the same Tippex-ed and irregular election, it could be only fair that fresh tripartite be held to ensure Malawi has leaders whose election is not questioned.

“We are not happy that the court did not find it necessary to extend the ruling to the Parliamentary and Local Government Elections because they, too, were elected on the same day and using the same resources. We feel like it’s unfair to only punish the president while leaving MPs and councillors who won their seats on through the same election,” he said.

The presser came barely a few hours before the High Court in Lilongwe starts hearing a case in which 185 concerned citizens are pleading with court to nullify the Parliamentary and Local Government Elections in accordance with the ConCourt ruling of February 3, 202, which annulled the presidential poll.

Frank Kuyokwa is leading the Concerned Citizens.

Group Village Head (GVH) Chindamba warned that, should the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) proceed to hold the fresh presidential election only, he would mobilize his subjects to boycott the vote.

Spokesperson for the Concerned Citizens, Prince Chokhotho Malunga Mboma, said they are using the same ConCourt judgment in the presidential election as their ground for moving the High Court to nullify the Parliamentary and Local Government Elections.

Mboma said the grouping is optimistic that the court will agree with and call for fresh tripartite elections.

A few days ago, Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC) also backed calls for the court to nullify the Parliamentary and Local Government Elections, saying that is the best way to reconcile the nation.

HRCC chairperson Robert Mkwezalamba therefore pleaded with President Peter Mutharika to consider firing Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) Commissioners and call for fresh tripartite elections within 150 days as stipulated by the Constitutional Court (ConCourt).

Mkwezalamba said reconstituting MEC and calling for fresh tripartite elections is the solution to the prevailing political and constitutional crisis in Malawi.

He said it remains a mystery where over 35 electoral cases ended up with MEC successfully defending over 28 of its decisions.

“Whereas Malawi is a constitutional order and our learned judges found MEC incompetent, it follows even that all its pronouncements require being nullified on the basis of such incompetency. It remains common knowledge that the same incompetency they executed presidential polls applied to MPs and councilors,” he said.

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47 replies on “Chiefs join calls for Malawi to hold fresh tripartite elections: President, MPs and Councillors”

  1. Among these, one is the village headman, who has been summoned by his King. Let us wait and see what happens later. It only shows how low a nation has gone, …

  2. Stupid vimafumu, stupid stupid don’t waste your time mwadya ma Banzi? Stupid, your people are suffering, how can you say that? Stupid.

  3. The Hi Five judges are incompetent, political, trbalistic and maldramatic entities, they are not fit to be high court judges, as they are members of HRDC,MCP and UTM

    1. naaaaa not at all..akuchukumitsa acinyamata mmam8zimu kwaapasa polemba maina ndi fone number za aanthu kuti akajudule ma ID. IDIOT FOOLS. ndalama yake 5 pin basi. it sulks.

      asatinyasepo. dzina la
      ufumu unatha kalekale.pano basi ufiti ozungulila mudzi ali malisece mmawa kukalandila cithumba comazagulila naco anthu.
      TOTAL BASTARDS

  5. Mafumu opusa inu! Courts cannot bend laws to accommodate your selfish motives. Mukawelenge Presidential and Parliamentary Act Section 97 (i). Anybody not satisfied with election outcome can petition the High Court within 7 days. No more no less! That window closed long back for those MPs and Councillors. Inutu akutumani aDPP. Its easy to rig tripartite elections like you did last year. One election yaPresident mwayiwona kuti tikuyalutsani mwati tibweleze chisankho chose cholinga mupeze mpata obela uPresident. Imeneyo tinayitulukila kale. Inu mukhale duuu.

  6. Our chiefs showing their stupidity because of money.Mafumu akuno kuMalawi ndi ochititsa manyazi zedi.

  8. In as much as the Chiefs have a point, the petition raised at the Constitutional court was anchored on presidential election.How could the Con court have ventured in parliamentary elections when the same was not brought to the court for adjudication?

    Malawi has a lot of clowns and no wonder the country is not moving forward.These chiefs are free to voice their concerns.At the same time, let them gather evidence for the parliamentary election and prove beyond reasonable doubt that the MPs and Local Council elections they had were also heavily tippexed.The problem is that they don’t have evidence.

    We told you in 1994 not to elect BRUTE and a THIEF.YOU SAID WAKUBA YEMWEYO. Now you are reaping the benefits of a BANANA REPUBLIC RATED AS THE POOREST COUNTRY ON EARTH! KWACHA !!!!!!!

    1. They don’t have a point. Any nullification of an electoral result is through Section 97 (i) of the PPE Act. Nothing more nothing less. The window to appeal any election according to that clause is 7 days after promulgation of a result. Pano we are almost close to a year and their case does not hold water.

    2. How and why the Concourt adjudicate on the issue of majority (50+1) when it had not been brought before them by the petitioners?

  9. yOU CAN JUST SEE HOW BRUTAL OUR CHIEFS. God forbid. eeee. Dpp cadets hired the chiefs who have never read the constitution, the elections Act, and PPE Act. What a bunch of charlatans!!!

    1. The chiefs were very clear. The ConCourt is Malawi’s greatest shame. They waste time addressing an issue no one petitioned about. They give themselves power to ask parliament to meet. They miss the constitutional provision that presidential elections must be conducted together with parliamentary elections. Too incompetent judges.

      1. You don’t read the law in abstract. Don’t read what you like and leave out what you don’t like. Try going through the entire document page by page, section by section it will give you a very good understanding of what is possible and what is not possible under the act.

    2. azelezeka onsewa. mphika ankakhalila ngongoliwa sanasiye ma instructions ake.. agalu oyenda malisece isiku kutuluka kumazungulila mudzi.
      munyatu. mafumu acabecabe inu.
      osamangophuzitsa ufiti azidzukulu anu

  10. The ConCourt made a lot of errors which even people who have not gone to school can see. If it is not the influence of money, then they should honorably resign. Otherwise, they should be impeached.

  11. kodi mafumu ake ozelezekawa? omwe akumatuma anyamata ao omwe kumalanda anthu ma personal detailswa. zitsilu.
    nao ma MP mumapeleka ndalama kumafumu’ tili ndi umboni ..zitsilu

  13. Its only fair to cancel both presidential and MPs results.Lets start all over again. The Courts can not find MEC incompetent on presidential elections alone and then say it was competent for MPs elections. Nop. Both President and MPs were elected using the same system. Zonse ndi zovunda

  14. Koma Amalawi tikadali mu ndale zakalekale, inu chigamulo cha court chingasinthe chifukwa chakuti mafumu ayankhula?
    Anthu akakhala ndi ndalama mitu siimagwiradi zoona, ndaonera amene amawapatsa ndalama mafumu kumayankhulo zinthu zosathekazo.

    Naonso mafumu akuona ngati Malawi wapano angamawamvere zimenezi? akungoonetsapo uchitsiru ndi dyera basi.
    Mafumu yawo yomagamula malire a minda ndi kumaweruza milandu ya mmamidzi yawo osati nkhani za dziko ayi.

  15. Most of Our Chiefs are above 60yrs…Nthawi ya Corona iyi bwenzi akukhala pa Nyumba …Onani momwe mwakhaliramo No Social Distancing ,No Masks …Yet those calling for these Press Conferences have Received Vast sums from Sponsors ….Let’s not abuse our Old people …

  17. I know several MP candidates who were instructed by the party not to go to court in order for the party to pool resources in the presidential case. But since the court found mec to have done illegal or irregular activities on that day, just cancel the whole tripartite elections.
    It boggles my mind why the concourt applied statute of limitations on MPs amidst gross incompetence and illegality by MEC as a body.

  19. A Chindamba …ndi Anzanu Ndalamazo timangodya mwakachetechete ….Zoti muzakanize Anthu Kovota ….Zizakuvutani …You had all the Time in the World to join the Case …Ma kondomu akatogwirisidwa Ntchito Amatayidwa …Mafumu Anzanu omwe Amatoyiziwa bwino DPP Ali bize mminda yao ….

  20. Nkhani ndi imeneyo yopanga boycott chisankho…..zidziwikilatu kuti atumidwa ndi dpp awa inu…..

  21. Why is Malawi never short of clowns? Do these misguided chiefs know the meaning of tripartite elections? Do they realise that these elections, despite being held on the same day to save resources, are different? In parliamentary election there are 193 elections and each election is different from the other. Parliamentary elections in Nkhatabay are different from parliamentary elections in Nsanje and parliamentary election in Nkhatabay North is different from election in Nkhatabay South. This is more the reason each parliamentary election has it’s own unique challenges. There is no candidate who competed in parliamentary election at national level but at constituency level. Each constituency, where there were irregularities, had it’s own petition to the court. You can’t nullify a parliamentary election in Nsanje North because there were irregularities in Karonga North. How did the results of Karonga North affect results in Nsanje North? Let’s be rational in our opinions about these elections related matters. The court should dismiss this petition with exemplary costs to deter other would be sponsored and misguided cadets and archaic thinking chiefs.

    1. “You can’t nullify a parliamentary election in Nsanje North because there were irregularities in Karonga North” indeed. If one can get this simple, clear and intelligent fact, then one has a very thick skull. But then, fools are born everyday. And they say never underestimate the power of stupid people acting in large numbers.

      2. Kumamvetsetsa nkhanizi. ConCourt ruled that there should be fresh presidential elections. Constitution says presidential elections must be conducted together with parliamentary elections. Can’t you see the ConCourt goofed big time?

      3. One reason for nullifying presidential elections results was because some forms were not signed. The forms had 3 sections, one for councillors, another for MP and another for president. The lack of signing affected all the three. Then why nullify just one? Wamvetsa tsopanp?

  22. ‘Concerned Citizens!’ This term has become so overused and somewhat of a clichè, it makes no sense anymore. Why don’t people just cut to the chase that they just want to sow seeds of confusion just as an excuse to run away from the upcoming presidential poll.

    The court ruling was back in February, and yet the so called ‘concerned citizens’, chiefs, HRCC or whatever disguise they want to masquerade as, have waited until now to be calling for the vote to include MPs and councillors. It cannot be coincidence that this is coming hot on the heels of MEC trying and failing to get the the preparation process suspended, first it was because of lack of resources then they tried the Covid 19 card. After these have failed, they are now mobilising chiefs and ‘concerned citizens’ to confuse everything.

    The chiefs are saying they find it ‘unfair to only punish the president..!’ That is so inaccurate, you followed the court proceedings, and the judgement was based on facts, it was not to punish any particular individual. If you really felt that the ConCourt ruling should have included MPs, you should have filed for an annulment of the MPs results with the court.

    To GVH Chindamba and the threat of mobilising your people to boycott the vote, ask yourself, in whose interest and to whose detriment are you going to do that undemocratic act? Your subjects belong to different parties, and it might be a tall order for you to convince people not to vote for their preferred president on your instruction, especially in today’s world where people are well informed.

  23. Those who wanted presidential results nullified went to court, they did not hold press conference. Go to court and present you arguments and evidence that individual MPs were affected by Tippex. You sound like idiots to me who have been paid to make this press conference.

  26. It is only right that parliamentary and local polls results should be annulled. If using tippex was an irregularity, then MPs and councillor results should be annulled because they also benefited from tippex. Though MPs did not go to court within the specified period, ConCourt ruling has fundamental implications for parliamentary and local poll results. An irregularity can not be OK for parliamentary and local polls.

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