MCP witness claims Chakwera won Malawi presidency with over 2m votes:  Bendulo, AG in showdown

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) fourth witness in the presidential election petition case, Anthony Bendulo and Attorney General (AG) Kalekeni Kaphale on Wednesday tussled in court in a cross -examination punctuated by flashes of tempers as the court learnt that MCP presidential hopeful Lazarus Chakwera won May 21 elections by 2 072 826 votes against President Peter Mutharika who allegedly got 1 817 473 votes.

Bendulo: MCP were denied copies by the second respondent, Malawi Electoral Commisison

Chakwera is the second petitioner in the presidential elections case being held by the Constitutional Court in Lilongwe, while Mutharika is the first respondent.

During  cross examination with Bendulo by the Kaphale, who is representing Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) as government’s chief legal adviser,  it was learnt that another witness yet to testify, Eisenhower Mkaka has made a sworn statement that based on the parallel tally centre of MCP, Chakwera obtained  2 072 826 votes against Mutharika’s 1 817 473 votes.

“We strongly believe that MEC concealed a figure of 317 154 votes for Dr Lazarus Chakwera from his Central Region stronghold,” Mkaka claims in his sworn statement.

But in cross examination with Bendulo, who was also a roving monitor  for MCP and an IT expert, Kaphale claimed MCP were  coming up with different figures to claim victory in the May elections.

He cited another key witness Peter Lackson who claimed Chakwera won the polls but a difference of 82 211 votes. And that he also claimed Chakwera won by a difference of 10 000 votes.

Kaphale asked Bendulo if MCP tally centres had done a “comprehensive tabulation” that they are keeping.

Bendulo said MCP did comprehensive tabulation, part of which Lackson submitted to court.

The witness said the truth of candidates valid votes could not be obtained by just seeing results sheets only (form 66Cs), but rather analysing methods of aggregation of the results on the results sheets.

Bendulo said for example he found that results on Form 66Cs were different from the results that were recorded in log books.

He also told the court that MEC delayed uploading some results on its website from polling centres and that Political Party monitors were denied access to carbonated copy of results at polling centres, saying there was supposed to be an audit trail from the system of ME.

“Most of these results including from places where our monitors were refused carbon copies, came through phones, text messages and, in some case, written just on a piece of paper because our  monitors could not afford to get the carbonated copies,” Bendulo said.

The cross-examination between Attorney General and Chakwera’s fourth witness was so heated that at one point a judge suggested Kaphale should pause and take a glass of water to cool down. Kaphale asked the judges for an early break after noting the frequency Bendulo was consuming water.

Bendulo rejected Kaphale’s offer: “I take five litres a day [of water] this is just 3 litres.”

The witness who was resolute to deny every attempt by Kaphale to discredit his testimony as week, inaccurate and not enough o suggest any rigging, also refused an offer to continue the testimony by taking a seat other than standing.

“I am still young and fit so I can continue testifying while standing,” he said.

 

Bendulo narrated how the elections were manipulated through use of correctional fluid Tippex, other manual alterations and duplicate or fake results sheets.

But Kaphale said alteration were based on genuine need to correct arithmetic errors and that no MCP monitors made a sworn statement against the corrections.

The witness roared: “Errors can be corrected but rigging cannot not be corrected by people rigging.”

During the testimony of the third witness, Lackson told the court that almost 80 percent of results sheets that MEC used in the May 21 2019 tripartite elections were altered with an aim of concealing errors.

Lackson found out that 17 votes went missing from a polling stream of a particular polling centre but the votes were shared among other streams on the constituency tally sheets to balance the total number of votes cast.

“The streams were tampered with Tipp-Ex even when other streams were correctly calculated. This was done to cover the missing votes. This has affected a good number of centres,” he said.

Hearing continues Thursday when Mutharika’s lawyer Frank Mbeta will cross-examine Bendulo after Kaphale finished with him.

Chakwera and UTM Party president Saulos Chilima want the Constitutional Court to nullify the presidential elections results and order a re-run.

Hearing of the case is expected to be concluded by December 6 this year. Thereafter, the five-judge panel of Healey Potani, Redson Kapindu, Ivy Kamanga, Dingiswayo Madise and Mike Tembo will deliver its landmark ruling within 45 days.

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winstonmsowoya
winstonmsowoya
4 years ago

NEBETHA,If in Malawi,we have millions of fools and brainless citizens,you are one of them GUILE!!!!!!!!

winstonmsowoya
winstonmsowoya
4 years ago

NEBETHA,are you okay upstairs? May be you are another MATANYULA going no where or you are a rotten Muthalika’s bullshit,Why are you defending a nitwit? May be if you had gone to school,you could have good brains to help you distinguish between bright and bullshit.

winstonmsowoya
winstonmsowoya
4 years ago

BENDULO,where did you get this malicious information?With that oppression and followed by unspeakable tribalism,do you think that Malawians are puppets like you FOOL!!!!! Do you know that thousands of our people perished in the hands of bastard Hastings Banda,Muwalo,John Tembo,Dr.Ntaba,Albert Muwalo,the Dausis and their friends and other uncouth killers.Malawians,time has come to reveal the names of the people who were murdered by Banda’s runningdogs.Who killed A.Bwanausi the best Mathmatian in Southern Africa.Who killed Orton Chirwa also the best Lawyer In Malawi trained in South Africa together with Robert G.Mugabe,Charles Njonjo of Kenya and other brilliant young men from other parts… Read more »

Joloza
4 years ago

The court needs evidence not man made stories. Which evidence has the MCP presented in court? They have just been telling stories of rigging without evidence. Continue with your stories and hearsays.

winstonmsowoya
winstonmsowoya
4 years ago

Mwatikonda,MCP will never again rule MALAWI for the fact that the MCP,was one of the AFRiCA’s brutal that many Africans of MALAWI,were brutally murdered and unfairly imprisoned and locked in prisons that even HITLER’S victims did not face.Malawians,how fools you are to embrace the Party that killed and maimed thousands of innocent people who were kept in Prisons innocently?Malawians of GOODWILL,Let MCP go with history.How would you tell your grand children what Banda and his barbaric MCP did to their grand parents?

Nabetha
Nabetha
4 years ago
Reply to  winstonmsowoya

Another confused old fool.

kankhocho
kankhocho
4 years ago
Reply to  winstonmsowoya

is banda the one to rule or the other one. my question is if your grandfather is a wizard does it mean your are a wizard by nature? muziganiza zolongosoka enafe sima sapota a MCP koma sitingapereke maganizo ngati amenewo no sense

Chief Justice Chilungamo
Chief Justice Chilungamo
4 years ago
Reply to  kankhocho

It is a fact. Umfiti tipasirana. Go and start African Traditional Religion or Anthropology.
MCP is genetically evil and brutal. This is the reason any person who was MCP if forms a political party, that political party becomes MCP B and behaves like Banda MCP. Msundwe syndicate is a replica of what MCP is, Thank God anakyberani. I will remain to stay in diaspora.

Kiyi
Kiyi
4 years ago
Reply to  winstonmsowoya

MCP was murdering while development and economy was growing but DPP is murdering innocent souls while the country is deteriorating

Kennedy
Kennedy
4 years ago

The so-called Dpp followers will try to put a blind eye and try to circumvet the fact so that they hear what they want to hear. The doubt in people is two much and anyone can see something is fishy. Try by all means to cover your backs 40th day is coming.

oMachemba
oMachemba
4 years ago

Bendulo, the false or fake IT expert. Waste of time, and the Court will not be moved by his pretense.
And some Judges could take this fundamental lie by Bendulo as a personal affront in the sense that akuwaona ngati makape eti.
Bad witness for MCP! Sesa sesa.

Noxy
4 years ago

Anthony Bendulo is another useless witness for MCP a total time waster

Mwinithako
Mwinithako
4 years ago

E hee palibe kumva pheni yapaaa!!Ma witness need to eat tooo so amadyera momo.The truth is that MCP ilive ukabhoni wakwenera kulusa bhoma kkkk.Kamwendo and Mkaka amazimva madzi kkk koma apa agwa nayooo kkkk

Mtete
Mtete
4 years ago

Unless the witnesses had a caucus to discuss and agree on the numbers of stolen votes in favour of APM, there were bound to be variations in the figures given by Bendulo and Lackson. The bottom line is that Chakwera scored more than APM. Just you wait Mr. Kaphale. More damning evidence is on its way.

It was very sad and unbelievable that APM, a seasoned lawyer, during the interview with Aljazeera, miserably attempted to justify the use of correction fluid Tipex.

Philosopher
Philosopher
4 years ago
Reply to  Mtete

“No country in the whole wide world has ever and can ever conduct an election without irregularities. Irregularities alone cannot justify an election nullification. It all depends on the gravity”. Prof. Patrick L. O. Lumumba

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