Mwenifumbo fails to vacate injunction to hold AFORD indaba
Alliance for Democracy (AFORD) presidential aspirant, Frank Mwenifumbo, on Sunday failed to vacate an injunction granted by the High Court in Lilongwe that restrained him from holding a convention last weekend.
Mwenifumbo and his camp spent almost the whole day at the courts with their lawyers to vacate the injunction but their efforts bore no fruits.
The injunction signed by Justice Charles Mkandawire, which Nyasa Times has seen, orders that the AFORD convention should be held on Tuesday, May 1, 2018 as decided by the emergency National Executive Committee (NEC) two weeks ago.
Under the miscellaneous civil cause number 190 of 2017, the injunction is addressed to AFORD secretary general Christopher Ritchie, long time publicist Dan Msowoya, Owen Mumba and Ernest Kanyenda.
In an interview, AFORD incumbent president, Enoch Chihana, said his party was not moved by Mwenifumbo’s camp.
“We’re not moved because that injunction is interparty. It means that the court cannot vacate it without our involvement,” said Chihana.
He assured delegates that the indaba is up on Tuesday and that all logistical arrangements have been taken care of.
According to Chihana, AFORD is a party that is strong but has been let down by people like Mwenifumbo.
“AFORD is a strong party but the squabbles such as the ones Mwenifumbo is bringing in are the ones that always let us down,” he said.
Son to the party’s founder Chakufwa—a trade unionist and freedom fighter—Chihana said after the convention AFORD will breathe into life again.
“We have all the potential. We simply need to put our house in order to win back the people’s confidence,” he said.
AFORD, one of the oldest parties in democratic Malawi, had 33 legislators in the 1994 general elections. It now has two—Mwenifumbo and Chihana.
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