MCP lawyers want to grill President Mutharika in Malawi election case
Lawyers for Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president Lazarus Chakwera the second petitioner in a case to nullify presidential results in the May 21 Tripartite Elections want President Peter Mutharika to appear before a five-judge panel of the High Court sitting as the Constitutional Court so that they can cross-examine him.
Mutharika of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), in his capacity as the declared winner, is the first respondent with Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) as the second petitioner.
Titus Mvalo, one of the lawyers for Chakwera, said as a party to the matter, the President would be required to be present in court to answer some questions.
“We will be interested to question the President in court,” Mvalo said.
He said the the work of the respondents will be inadequate without the President’s answers in court.
The case is being broadcast live on radio amid a huge political impasse following the disputed elections in May, which saw President Mutharika re-elected.
Mutharika is represented by, among others, lawyers from Mbeta and Co, M&M Global, Pious Attorneys, Makiyi, Kanyenda & Associates and Mhango & Co.
Frank Mbeta, a private practice lawyer representing Mutharika, said the Malawi leader filed his response and sworn statements in opposition to the consolidated petitions of Chilima and Chakwera.
President Mutharika, a professor at law, is asking the court to dismiss the petitioners’ case and filed sworn statements in support of his case through Dr. Ben Malunga Phiri (Minister of Local Government), Bob Chimkango a private practice lawyer and more than 50 monitors who witnessed the whole process from voting to counting of the votes in the areas alleged by Chilima and Chakwera to have irregularities.
According to court documents seen by Nyasa Times, President Mutharika discredited the evidence of the petitioners as “lacking and wanting in all material respects.”
Mutharika through lawyer Mbeta argue that the Chilima and Chakwera have heavily relied on the use of the alteration fluid known as Tippex as a basis to nullify the election.
“The Petitioners have miserably failed to tell the court the effect of the alterations on the votes polled by the candidates.
“The petitioners have also failed to tell the court the fact that alteration fluid used was only for reconciliation of the figures and not to change the votes of the candidates,” reads Mutharika’s response.
Currently, after two days hearing, Attorney General (AG) Kalekeni Kaphale is cross examining on the country’s immediate past vice-president and UTM leader Saulos Chilima – as the first petitioner – over the use of party monitors and the now infamous correctional fluid (Tippex) during the ongoing presidential election case.
Kaphale during the grueling cross-examination sought to portray Chilima as an unreliable witness in comparison with the monitors on the ground and in some instances asked the UTM leader to confirm that the result sheets with Tippex could have been altered for genuine reasons.
He further sought to portray that it was possible that while duplicates were used in some instances instead of original result sheets, the presence of signatures by party monitors made them admissible.
Chilima and Chakwera filed separate petitions disputing the May 27 Malawi Electoral Commission declaration of Mutharika as winner of the presidential race with 1 940 709 votes representing 38.57 percent followed by Chakwera with 1 781 740 votes representing 35.41 percent with Chilima finishing third and ahead of four other aspirants with 1 018 369 votes representing 20.24 percent.
The High Court consolidated the petitions into one case and referred the matter to Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda who subsequently certified it as a constitutional matter and assigned a five-judge panel to hear the case as a Constitutional Court.
The five-judge panel comprises Healey Potani, Mike Tembo, Dingiswayo Madise, Ivy Kamanga and Redson Kapindu.
My Lady my Lord, kkkkkkkkkkkkest kupusiratu munthu
Bola cardiac arrest isakawamenye ku khothi konko agogo wo, onani m’mene agobozokera pa picture pa, pa khosi po kkkkkkkk eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeish!
iwe uzakalamba bwanji COPS? Kukalamba si tchimo, koma tchimo ndi kusaziphunzitsa ngati m’mene ulili kuti unvetse human degradation. Is your mother getting younger every day?
Kaphale has set the standards and will apply to all concerned parties.There is no other choice but to appear as one of the candidates and also a beneficiary of the rigging
court standards are not set by one person. These are court procedures and if they are being followed, palibe bvuto lochita blame munthu m’modzi.
If the effects of tippex can not be determined, how do you determine whether votes were stolen and how do you determine the true votes. Therefore rerun is essential to determine true winner.
Dreaming big time!
but the complainants is saying anabeledwa mavote awo. This case is about the complainant proving beyond reasonable doubt that so much votes were stolen at such and such a centre, period!! SKC has so far admitted that none of his vote was tampered. Musova.
@Kayombe
Ku khoti kulebe nthabwala. Forensic evidence can be collected paliponse to build a strong case. Zocheza izo za akazi anu ku khomo kwanu. As a learned lawyer he should have known that. Words matter
APM confessed during the Njamba DPP rally that even his votes were rigged.He has to testify b4 the court how this was done….Koma nde kuzamwedwa mgolo wanadzitu.
That was just a light moment with his people inu! Munthu asachedze? what if he tells the court kuti alibe umboni, won’t it fall off? After all he did not complain to the court.
Kachimanga, nanu ndinu Judge or wishful thinking that APM should go to court? Anzeru za malamulo aunika. inu muzingoseteka mabala a boss wanu, chilima. kkkkk
Apite basi no immune in this case immune is for legitimate elected president not president elected through tipex back door and if the court find it necessary for him to appear before the court he will go and if he choose not to go then it is a crystal clear evidence that he contempt court order and you the consequence . also be reminded in case you have forgotten that he is a first respondent in this case obviously there is a needed for him to meet the petition lawyers and be grilled there further more the court will not… Read more »
I think the immunity is when he is sued. In this case he will be asked to testify as a witness so in this case the immunity does not apply
You are very correct Gerald. In fact the president is not immune to court orders.
kikiki. APM asapite ku kukhothi. Kukhothi omangofunsana mafunso oti aonetse kuti munthu ndi ombwambwana. Obusa OChakwera asamale akafunsidwa mafunso oti aonetse ngati kuti iwo alibe nzeru. Sakafunsidwa mavesi ayi. Popeza CV yandale ya O Chilima yayamba kusosoledwa a MCP angofuna APM apite kukhoti kuti nayenso okamusosole. Sikuti ali ndi mafunso enieni okamufunsa.
Makape inu,Bwampini wanu wakanika kuyankha mafunsoyo mukalimbane ndi APM.Zopusa zanuzo sangapange muyisova.Concetrate on the failed case.
Ineyo sindikuopa ndifuna apite akawasososle konko ku kothi kuti akadziwe kuti akumana ndi mtunda wa zamalamulo basi
What are you going to grill him. All what we know is that the next on line to be grilled is Chakwera. Believe me not, he will flop , already his comrade is sweating with kaphale. The MCP lawyers should know better that they want a man who understands the law better. After all the president is not allowed to go and answer in court, he has made everything according to books. Good luck failure tambala wakuda.
Lindani madzi adutse Nde muziche odala court si lopusa ngati ena muganizila