Malawi Governnance Platform proposes creation of permanent Constitutional Court

Governance, social and political commentator John Unandi Banda has proposed that a separate Constitutional Court (ConCourt) should be created to preside over complaints bordering on elections.

Banda, who was Kamlepo Kalua’s runningmate in the first post-one-party regime general elections in 1994, argues this could be critical move in the entrenchment of Malawi’s hard-won democracy and consolidation of good governance.

He was speaking in Lilongwe on Wednesday during a press briefing he called under the banner of Malawi Governnance Platform. Banda is the interim chairperson of the Malawi Governance Platform, which is a network of over 50 civil society organisations, according to one of the executive members, Philip Kamangira.

Banda observed that the recent ConCourt ruling in the Presidential Elections Case has opened a can of worms seeking legal interpretations.

“The ruling did not address the substantive constitutional issues that Malawias need responses to. In fact, it leaves a huge vacuum because that court, too, is formally constituted. It is administratively constituted, which means one can also challenge its decisions,” he said.

“That’s why in 1995, whilst in the Malawi Democratic Party, we made a proposal to have a separate ConCourt because we saw electoral complaints coming,” Banda added.

However, the veteran election observer did not indicate whether the platform intends to launch a legal battle to challenge the administrative formation and constitution of a ConCourt.

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