Mtambo defiant, says ‘change movement’ unstoppable

Fierce and prominent human rights activist Timothy Mtambo has come out of police custody on bail defiantly saying will not stop pressing President Peter Mutharika fire Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) commissioners and appoint new commission to conduct fresh elections.

Mtambo said Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) and Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (Cdedi) will press Mutharika to assent to Electoral Bills recently passed in Parliament,

He was speaking  minutes after the Lilongwe magistrate’s court granted him and Gift Trapence and MacDonald Sembereka bail after their arrest for allegedly mobilising people to shut down state residences.

” Change cannot be stopped. This movement will not be stopped by anybody. This movement is heavenly movement. We are soldiers for peace, freedom and justice. We are going to hold these values dearly,” said Mtambo.

He said the hour to change things has now come.

“We are empowered more than ever. The new begging is coming and is now,” he said.

The rights activists  said they will not be intimidated.

“The law of gravity states that what goes up must come down,” said HRDC chairperson.

His father was among hundreds of people who came to the court when the three HRDC officials were being given bail.

On February 3, the High Court sitting in Lilongwe as the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) annulled the presidential election, saying they were marred by a plethora of irregularities. The court therefore ordered Parliament to make provisions for holding of fresh presidential election within 150 days.

Parliament passed the Parliamentary and Presidential Elections Amendment Bill which has set fresh elections to be held on May 19. The Bill also provides for the holding a run-off election 30 days later if no candidate gets 50%+1 of the votes cast.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of Appeal in Lilongwe has thrown out the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) application in which it wanted the court to grant a stay order on the judgement that nullified the May 21 2019 presidential election.