Mutharika attacks Judiciary for undermining Covid-19 fight, as Malawi cases rise to 336
President Peter Mutharika has again hit at the Judiciary for blocking government’s proposed coronavirus lockdown and push ahead with mass campaign rallies – ignoring all social distancing and the ban on gatherings of more than 100 – thereby threatening lives of people.
Malawi University of Science (MUST) . – Photo by Abel Ikiloni, Mana
Mutharika speaking in Thyolo on Monday when he joined the campaign trail for the fresh presidential elections due later this month accused the Judiciary that it was putting lives of Malawians at risk by stopping the lockdown while allowing them to go for a fresh presidential election amid the plague.
“Coronavirus is killing people in every country. This disease does not choose. Coronavirus can kill anyone at any time. That is what we are seeing everywhere,” said Mutharika on a visit to Malawi University of Science and Technology (Must), where he appreciated the innovations made by the university students aimed at stopping the spread of Covid-19.
High Court judge blocked the government from implementing a nationwide lockdown and the Chief Justice has since certified the matter to be reviewed in the Constitutional Court with not less than three judges.
“The problem we have in this country is that we are taking Coronavirus lightly,” said Mutharika, adding “our fight against Coronavirus is being undermined by politics.”
He continued: “The Courts stopped us from going on a lockdown. The same Courts want us to go to an election. Everybody knows that I won the 2019 election. If the Court had chosen to follow the law and evidence of the election case, we wouldn’t be going to another election.
“Now, we have a situation that is encouraging everybody to campaign and undermining social distance. We are risking lives of innocent Malawians. With this election, we are risking lives of our children, our mothers, our fathers, our brothers and sisters.
“As President of this country, this is what I have to say. This country must choose between fighting Coronavirus and going to an election. We must choose between life and death. As a country, we must make that choice.”
President Mutharika said the lockdown restrictions was aimed to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, which has now infected 336 people in Malawi and killed four.
The Presidential Taskforce on Covid-19 told the media in Lilongwe on Monday that 52 new Covid-19 cases have been recorded, bringing the number of infections in the country to 336. The number of recoveries remains at 42.
According to Presidential Taskforce on Covid-19 co-chairperson Dr. John Phuka, on the cases, 42 are returnees from South Africa who passed through Mwanza, nine truck drivers and a man from Dedza who recently travelled to South Africa.
Phuka said the man from Dedza arrived in the country on May 11.
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Mr president pls stop blaming judiciary but rather blame urself for ur incompetent leadership style lockdown come here in south Africa with developed hospitals and see how corona continue accumulating figures just go ahead with elections we need to see the change
APM has to deal with the judiciary branch in his first year of term
Its your stupid government that has imported the cases from outside the country you miserable old brute!
Mutharika has the right to criticise the judgement and there is nothing wrong with that in the world of democracy. He criticised the way judgement was delivered, and it is not only him, many al so do criticises. Stop hating him, he is free to criticise, the same way we criticise any person or organisation. Grow up. Judges are not superior, they to error I their judgement. The good example is when concourt interpreted meaning of majority overriding what was interpreted by the. Supreme years ago, shows, they are not hundred percent right. It shows the Supreme Court erred and… Read more »
Our bodies have been hit by harder diseases than this Corona and we are still alive. Only four deaths in four months and most of them not Malawians. We will vote this month Mr President.
Imported cases 282, Local transmission 52 this is a pointer of poor Leadership in Malawi. There is no other country in the world that has produced such statistics. How can a country allow importation of a disease at such an alarming rate????? Poor or absent leadership. The fact is that this country is on Auto-pilot. Then the supposed president points at the judiciary!!! Really? My foot!! Its a joke of a president!!!! and he is seeking reelection. Our heavenly Father knock-off this joker to save our country. AMEN.
Malawi is our land no fear ndi Corona virus what we know is dzikolathutikufuna zithu zisithe basi and God knows,not lockdown mr president come and see South Africa we are in lockdown but nothing changed zisakho zichitike basi.
Covid 19 is highly overated. It is real and killing people globally yes. But hang on a minute, in more than 6 months it has killed 4 people in malawi. Only 4 people!
How many have died from HIV/ Aids, malaria, tb, cancer, cholera and other diseases? Why are we not talking about these other diseses which are killing more people?
Lets vote pa 23 June and lets get the winners to run affairs of state. Izi ayi izi!
Creating a crisis where there shouldn’t have been any. Someone’s advice to APM to use Covid 19 pandemic to scare Malawians is working. Roping in Phuka as co- chairman of the Covid 19 pandemic Committee is achieving the intended purpose. The man is announcing new cases in hundreds every other day; thanks to the returnees from RSA. If indeed all the people coming from South Africa are infected as we are led to believe, the situation there must be extremely hopeless. Is that so?
By the way only four people out of over 300 have alegedely lost their lives.
My fellow citizen Duda, u have eyes, plus use them to see and ears to hear… whenever u want to start a lockdown, u don’t just start 4 the sake of starting or copying from elsewhere. U need to analyze on how will u protect pple in as far as food is concerned and the Judiciary needed to know how will pple be protected during the lockdown of which mutharika failed to explain. You don’t just to what Germany, India, England does, this is Malawi we are talking abt where 85% of it’s citizens walk distances just for nkhuni, madzi,… Read more »