Malawi electoral commission offices open in Blantyre, Mzuzu

Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) offices are open in Blantyre and Mzuzu just a day after the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) forcibly closed them to force the resignation of the pollster’s commissioners.

But in Lilongwe, the offices remained closed with iron chains and locks and the place looks deserted except for armed police officers manning the premises.

The Constitutional Court on February 3 2020 annulled results that declared President Peter Mutharika, who had a narrow lead, victor and lashed the Jane Ansah-led Commission  for “incompetence.”

Sources said Malawi Defence Force (MDF) soldiers manned the Lilongwe MEC office premises all night long until they handed over to the police Friday morning.

In Blantyre, a guard at the MEC office claimed officials from the HRDC went back to the place to remove the chains and locks soon after they closed it.

But HRDC coordinator for the south Masauko Thawe expressed surprised that the offices were open, saying his officials did not open the offices.

“This is the MEC that we don’t want because we cannot trust them. We need a new MEC which can operate to the expectations of all Malawians,” Thawe said.

Ansah, a judge of the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal, has defiantly maintained that she will quit only if the Supreme Court upholds the Constitutional Court judgement, which also ordered new elections within 150 days.

She told Parliament’s Public Appointments Committee inquiry at Parliament Building in Lilongwe assessing MEC commissioners’ competences in managing the disputed elections, this week that the correction fluid – referred to by its commercial name of Tippex – had been used only to correct results, not distort them.

In Mzuzu, the offices are open and business is going on as usual.

Police spokesperson for Mzuzu Peter Kalaya said his office has not received reports of injuries following the Thursday protests in the city.

The social media has been awash with pictures and stories that the police shot a man in the leg during the demonstrations in Mzuzu.