DPP’s Ngwenya not registered voter, wants MEC to issue him a voters’ certificate for Lilongwe  City SE re-run

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) aspiring  candidate for Lilongwe City South East Constituency  retired  Brigadier Reuben Ngwenya has no voting registration certificate meaning that he cannot contests  as the candidate for the area as stipulated by the laws of Malawi but he has gone to High Court  to order  Malawi Electoral Commission’s (MEC) open voter registration to enable him contest and vote.

Malawi electoral laws demand that only registered voters are allowed to stand which is not the case with Ngwenya who is the preferred choice of the DPP top brash.

Sources said DPP persudade MEC  chair  Justice Jane Ansah advising her to postpone the frsh elections un till the party has put its house in order by either seeking court interpretation or else identify other candidates .

The  MP for the constituency who MCP candidate Ulemu Msungama claims stole the votes from him was Bently Namasasu of DPP.

Following the Supreme Court of Appeal ruling that a rerun be held, the DPP has lost one seat in the House pending fresh elections.

But DPP does not want Namasasu again, opting for former diplomat Ngwenya.

Ngwenya confirmed taking the matter to High Court, saying he is fighting for “an important legfal review.”

He said: “I think it is only fair and just that those who are unabale ti register due to call of duty are allowed at a certain time to do so.”

In his affidavid filed under an application termed Certificate of Etreme Urgency, Ngwenya argues he was  in Japan as Malawi diplomat during the registratiob for the 2014 elections.

He wants the court to order MEC to register him as a voter and issue him a voters’ certificate.

DPP director of elections and Leader of Government in Parliament, Kondwani Nankhumwa said the party will conduct primary elections to select a candidate, saying Namasasu, who lost the seat after the court ruling, is not the automatic candidate.

“We will open up the contest for primaries so we can have a strong candidate,” said Nankhumwa.

He said the date for the primary election is not yet set.

“The door is open for all members of DPP in the constituency who want to contest,” said Nankhumwa.

Ngwenya, a former Senior Lecturer at Mzuzu University, holds a Master Degree in Strategic Management from the University of Derby in the UK and in 2015 earned himself a prestigious doctorate degree after he successfully defended his thesis in Strategic and Change Management at the University of Bolton in the UK.

 

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