Livingstonia Synod petitions rotten MEC to scrap Malawi presidential vote results

Livingstonia Synod of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) has written the rotten Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) to quash the presidential results after it controversially declared President Peter Mutharika a victor in last month’s Tripartite Elections.

In a letter to the electoral commission Chairperson Jane Ansah, which has been signed by the  General Secretary Dr. Levi Nyondo and its Moderator Reverend Douglous Chipofya, the synod bemoans the use of  correctional fluid Tipp-Ex and already marked ballot papers, discrediting the May 21 Tripartite Elections that the results “lack credibility”.

“There were so many places where people were found with marked ballot papers. Some people in other polling centers were found red handed marking ballot papers even at a time when voting day had passed.

“Supplementary to that, there was so much use of Tipp-Ex country wide and through the use of Tipp-Ex so much rigging found its way”, reads part of the letter seen by Nyasa Times.

The  synod further notes that MEC chairwoman,  Ansah was so much in a hurry in announcing the presidential results without dealing with the irregularities or ‘Madando’ as she put it.

They note that both the announcing of presidential results and the swearing-in ceremony was done in such a hurry like an ambush.

The church wonders, “how come one is being declared a winner and the following day is sworn in?

“As a church, we doubt so much the credibility of your declaration on presidential race with its swearing-in included”.

The church has further reminded Ansah that she received a letter asking her to withhold the presidential results until all anomalies were addressed.

The Synod of Livingstonia cites an example of Kenya where in 2017, presidential results were nullified and fresh elections were conducted.

It believes Malawi would have done the same so that the electorate retain the trust they had in the electoral body which the synod believes Malawians have lost.

The letter has ended with an ultimatum to MEC saying “we request the nullification of presidential results and calling for a re-run within 90 days.”

Public Affairs Committee (PAC), a quasi-religious body formed in 1992 during the country’s political transition from one-party to multiparty democracy, also accused MEC of messing up the results management system.

“The admission by MEC chairperson Justice Jane Ansah that the commission accepted results with alterations and erasions speak volumes of how much the process was flawed.

“We know that more than the 147 complaints mentioned were lodged, but were not fully resolved. For this reason, many people feel that justice has been ignored and that institutions involved in the electoral process have failed to give the truth and justice a chance,” said PAC chairperson the Very Reverend Felix Chingota.

Ansah, who is a judge of the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal and described the electoral process as “free and fair” and that the results were a “true reflection of the will of the people of Malawi”,  could not immediately respond to Synod’s call for nullification of results of the elections dubbed not credible.

The under fire Ansah said MEC will in due course convene a post-mortem meeting for the elections that ushered in President Peter Mutharika for a second five-year term of office, 192 legislators in the 193-seat Parliament and 460 ward councillors.

University of Livingstonia political scientist George Phiri suggested in an interview that for Mutharika and his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to govern well, they must bury their pride and start mending fences by calling for a government of national unity.

Mutharika in his inaugural speech urged the southern African nation to move on.

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