Njobvuyalema won, declares MCP primary polls returning officer

There is total confusion in Malawi Congress Party (MCP) following the  primary elections for Lilongwe Mapuyu South constituency  as the election’s returning officer Makala Ngozo MP has declared   incumbent legislator Joseph Njobvuyalema  duelly elected to be the pafrty’s candidate, disputing earlier results that indicated his main challenger Edward Chileka-Banda had won.

Njobvuyalema, who has a been a member of Parliament for the constituency since 1999, was reported by the party’s central region chairperson and his director of elections Patrick Chilondola and Willard Gwengwe to have lost the primary election to 37-year-old civil society player Edward Chileka-Banda.

But Makala Ngozo said the official results which he has submitted to the party’s director of elections indicate that Njobvuyalema won.

According to Ngozo, the veteran politician carried the day after amassing 356 votes against Chileka-Banda’s 199.

“These are  the figures I recorded on the result sheet and a credible report of how the party members voted,” Ngozo said.

Ngozo said he has has submitted his report indicating the winner to be Njobvuyalema to to Elias Chakwera, MCP director of elections.

The report has faulted Edward Chileka Banda for declaring himself a winner.

Chakwera said the results are under dispute and he has withled them until the party establish what happened.

Both Njobvuyalema and Chileka-Banda are insisting to represent MCP in next year’s polls.

“ I am the rightful winner based on the number of delegates who voted as such nobody else can dispute that other than agreeing to the reality,” said Njobvuyalema

While Chileka-Banda , who, ironically, failed in his bid to represent MCP in 2014, asked Njobvuyalema to accept defeat with honour.