Chihana, Mwenifumbo meet in court over Aford presidency

Split  Alliance for Democracy (Aford) leadership meets in the High Court in a case to search for the true leader  of the party following claims by two powerful politicians that they are leaders.

High Court judge in Lilongwe Charles Mkandawire goes back to the court room on Wednesday to hear witnesses from Karonga central MP Frank Mwenifumbo who says he was elected leader of the party during the May 1 elective conference in the Capital City.

On Tuesday, at the start of the case, secretary general Christopher Ritchie, two regional governors for the centre and eastern regions Nicholas Kamoto and a Mr. Misomali and Mwenifumbo took to the witness box in the court to narrate how the May 1 convention elected Mwenifumbo as president of Aford.

The Mwenifumbo camp has gone to the court seeking the courts to legitimize which one of the two conventions; of Enoch Chihana camp and that of Mwenifumbo camp.

On Wednesday, the court will continue with the witnesses of the Aford regional governor for the south and the former regional governor for the north who has since defected to United Transformation Movement (UTM).

Taking his turn on Tuesday, Mwenifumbo contended that he fully complied with a court order which obliged the party to hold an elective conference on May 1 after several postponements by Chihana.

“But the convention, which was held at an agreed venue, was prematurely terminated by Honourable Chihana on grounds of insecurity which was perpetrated by his own personal bodyguard when he beat up our secretary general, Mr Richie,” said Mwenifumbo.

Chihana and his camp are expected to take up to the witness box on Wednesday but on Tuesday, Mwenifumbo told the judge how he rejoined the party after a stench with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) where he was a deputy minister of Agriculture  in the Bingu wa Mutharika led government before moving to Peoples Party where he was deputy secretary general.

Mwenifumbo was an aide to the founding father of Aford, the democracy icon Chakufwa Chihana in the early 1990s during the struggle against the Kamuzu Banda one party autocratic rule.

Mwenifumbo told Judge Mkandawire how he campaigned for the position of president after his return back to Aford and how he has been fighting to force hitherto his political rival, Enoch Chihana, hold an elective convention after the mandate of the national executive committee, including that of Chihana, expired in December, 2017.

He told the packed court that the same court ordered that the convention be held on April 28 and 29 but on the eve of April 28, Chihana cancelled the elective conference although delegates had already arrived in Lilongwe.

After another court ruling, the convention was set on May 1, Mwenifumbo said, adding that Chihana came around 2:30 pm when the convention was scheduled to start at 10 am.

“When he came, he just cancelled the convention yet he had no mandate to do so because his mandate had already expired in December 2017. Section 7, subsection 3 of our constitution is very clear on this,” he told the court.

He told the court that the Aford convention which he held on May 2 was therefore illegal because his mandate as Aford leader had expired and he had no mandate to call for a convention as Aford leader following the dissolution of Aford NEC.

Meanwhile, Aford publicist on Mwenifumbo camp, Dan Msowoya has been added to the list of witnesses and is expected to be cross examined on Wednesday.