Chilima exonerates Ansah, ‘calls of resignation not proof of wrong’: Mutharika audio clip played in Malawi poll case

Former Vice President Saulos Chilima who was accused of clinging to office when Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government officials called for his resignation after he ditched the party on June 6 2018, faced his ghosts as President Peter Mutharika lawyer Frank Mbeta forced him to accept that “calls for resignation are not proof of wrongdoing.”

Chilima and Ansah during the presidential nomination

Chilima admitted there are no grounds for Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) chairperson Jane Ansah  to resign .

Mbeta,  who started cross examining Chilima on a Friday in the ongoing presidential election petition case at the Constitutional Court,  dwelled on the political side of Chilima and boxed him to admit that he did not resign as Vice President which means the calls by himself for Justice Jane Ansah, to resign were mere hypocrisy.

Mutharika’s lawyer Mbeta asked: “At a certain point you were requested by certain quarters to resign but you did not.”

“That’s correct,” Chilima said in response

Mbeta then questioned Chilima if he would agree that being required to resign is not a proof of misconduct and the UTM leader refused to agree.

He pressed him s: “To be clear, you would say a requirement to resign is a proof of misconduct; yes or no?”

Chilima responded: “For that question, the answer is yes.”

The UTM Party President told the jam-packed court that the demands for Ansah’s resignation do not in any way reflect any incompetence on her part in the May 21 Tripartite Elections.

Answering questions when cross examined by Mbeta,  Chilima told the court that Ansah had ably responded to and addressed all their queries as regarding the May elections.

Chilima lawyers Marshal Chilenga, Chikosa Sulungwe and Bright Theu worked over time to block Mbeta’s questioning which also exposed that Chilima had hidden from the public a response of a letter from Ansah after his much publicised letter giving the MEC chairperson seven days to resign and respond.

The former Vice President said that it is only out of choice that he chose not to make public any responses from Ansah.

In his letter, Chilima said he had evidence that Ansah spoke to colleagues at MEC to work on re-electing Mutharika and stop the possible ascendancy to the vice-presidency of MCP running mate Muhammad Sidik Mia allegedly for being a Muslim.

But Ansah denied both allegations, saying she has no access to MEC staff except the chief elections officer.

Ansah, a judge of the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal, rejected any calls for her to resign on principle, saying she will wait for the court’s judgement on the matter to decide whether to call it quits.

She described nationwide demonstrations organised by Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) in the country’s four cities last Thursday demanding her resignation as “mob justice”.

The day six of the election case saw the UTM leader tore his own affidavit, as he agreed allegations of bribing, tippex and inadequate Police had no basis in his affidavit.

He also repeated his agreement that Tippex had no effect on valid votes during the elections.

The climax of the long day was when Mbeta asked to play voices which Chilima had submitted and the public were taken back to elections day results. Chilima allegation that some had been found with marked ballots was clearly explained by Chief Elections Officer Sam Alfandika in the tape recording of a MEC  press briefing that the matter in Mzimba of pre-marker ballots had been addressed and one of the presiding officers was arrested.

Another audio played in court was of  first respondent in the case, President Mutharika while addressing a political rally after the election results were announced mocking of Chilima that he claimed to have been master of rigging and that DPP votes were “stolen” in Central Region, sent the court into laughter at the end of the tape.

Justice Ansah’s voice was played for press conferences she addressed before announcing the presidential results.

Mbeta’s facing of constant interjections from Chilima lawyers indicate again the desperation of how the star witness has performed, tearing his own affidavit and agreeing essentially that there were no serious flaws that affected the valid votes.

Lawyer Mbeta is expected to wind up on Monday and former Attorney General Charles Mhango is expected to start cross examining him.

Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :

Sharing is caring!

Follow us in Twitter
28 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Nyasa jè Malawi
4 years ago

Che Nkolokosa walemba zamazila apa…

Aalex
Aalex
4 years ago

Mayankhidwe a mukhoti ndi choncho. Who doesnt know she messed up? Only dpp thugs thinks she was good. Your end is nigh..

Hatton
Hatton
4 years ago

Palibe nkhani apa. Malawi had a tripartite election. MPs were sworn and are working. So too Councillors.
The good thing is that Malawians have discovered that CHILIMA IS EXTREMELY dull.

Charie
Charie
4 years ago

Anatsakula kwa chilima case yo kut adzikafotoka Ku akhothi , Peter sakuyankhapo chili chose mchifukwa alibe umboni akanakhala ndi mboni akadasuma kukhothi

MOSHKO
4 years ago

How jezebel jane ansah resolved 147 madandos within 2 to 10 hrs surprises me up to this day —— our whole team of lawyers is taking all this long asking chilima petty questions disregarding TIPPEX —- disregarding lorries packed at MEC headquarters with marked votes where dausi and friends were roughed up ?has dausi and friends been grilled to court to answer charges on such issues ?? what kind of people do we have in Malawi ?? Albino eaters or human blood drinkers ??

Yeremua
Yeremua
4 years ago
Reply to  MOSHKO

Your parents should be ashamed that they spent their hard earned cash on you…The dullest contributor on this topic, not informed…Overzealous with no direction…

Asahel
Asahel
4 years ago
Reply to  MOSHKO

Kkkkkkkk u r sick in mind bt u dnt knw.

agola
agola
4 years ago

idiot Chilima just messed up his all career

Aalex
Aalex
4 years ago
Reply to  agola

Foolish man. You know not what you are saying.

Ndadabwa
Ndadabwa
4 years ago

Is Chilima ok? Mentally? I think he needs to be examined to assess his competence as his performance in court so far has discredited his as a reliable person and let alone as a leader to be. Am ashamed with his stance in court. How did he end up as vice president of Malawi?

Kapado Chimulirenji
4 years ago

By all standards, Mbeta did not impress me with his cross examination. he lacked confidence and the flow of his questions was dull. I guess Mhango will be worse and he is likely to repeat the questions the AG already asked. As a matter of fact, not all Lawyers are good and some can easily be challenged by a lay-man. One controversial former British Labour MP, George Galloway defended himself in court without a Lawyer and won the case over Saddam Hussein attack by Britain and America during Tony Blair’s administration.

Yes
Yes
4 years ago

Akupange impress nachidwe ngati iwe apindula chain?

Kapado Chimulirenji
4 years ago

By all standard Mbeta did not impress me with his cross examination. He lacked confidence and the flow of questions was dull. I guess Mhango will be worse and is likely to repeat the question the AG asked already. Not all Lawyers are good, this is a fact.

Dengu
Dengu
4 years ago

The case is not over but Chilima has not done credit to his reputation.

Read previous post:
Malawi minimum maize prices hiked: Minister Nankhumwa assures adequate stocks for national food security

Government has directed that Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) maize buying price be revised from K150 per kilogram to K180...

Close