Court orders Chilima lawyers to withdraw  strage document in re-examination: Malawi poll case

Following eight days of grueling cross examination  lawyers representing first petitioner Saulos Chilima in the historic presidential election petition case was set to  start re-examination of the UTM Party president but were put aback after the  Constitutional Court ordered the withdrawal of the strage spreadsheet which they wanted to use.

To the bitter shock and surprise of both the Constitutional Court  five-judge panel and lawyers for respondents Malawi Electoral Commisison (MEC) and President Peter Mutharika, Dr  Chikosa Silungwe, one of Chilima’s lawyers, produced a strange document t which had answers for the questions he was going to be ask including legal provisions he will rely on.

Mutharika’s lawyer Frank Mbeta alongside Attorney General Kalekeni Kaphale vehemently objected to the use of such documents during re-examination.

The Court upheld the objection and ordered that such documents cannot be used. Chilima’s lawyer was disturbed and failed to ask proper questions.

Through the cross-examination, both Kaphale and Mbeta  made Chilima consistently admit that no UTM Party monitor has submitted to court a sworn statement to challenge results MEC relied on to declare a winner in the May 21 2019 Tripartite Elections.

Chilima cross examination also focused on  his witnesses Darlington Ndasauka and Miriam Gwalidi, UTM Party’s electoral officers.

According to the court proceedings, Chilima never used the word “fraud” in his primary petition but it appeared later in his supplementary sworn statement, hoping to back it up by sworn statements from Ndasauka and Gwalidi.

The matter proceeds Wednesday for further re-examination. This will be followed by Chilima’s witnesses t who will also take to the witness stand before the second petitioner, Lazarus Chakwera, takes his turn in the witness boss for gruelling cross-examination.

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