OPC and Police admit wrong-doing in withdrawing VP Chilima’s security: Ordered to pay costs for legal action
The office of the President and Cabinet and the Malawi Police have admitted being in the wrong n relation to their action to withdraw security from the vice president Saulos Chilima and they have since been ordered to pay the costs for the legal action that followed their action.
Following the admission by OPC and the Police a court order has since been issued that states: “The decisions of the Respondents reducing the number of police officers guarding [at] the official residences of the Applicant in Lilongwe and Blantyre; transferring police officers working at the said residences; and withdrawing some of the motor vehicles assigned to the office of the Vice President of the Republic of Malawi be and are hereby wholly and effectually withdrawn.
“The Respondents shall pay costs of these proceedings and the same are to be taxed if not agreed by the Parties.”
Commenting on the development, governance expert Makhumbo Munthali said: ” It simply means that the Police and government have finally acknowledged that what they did to the Vice President was unconstitutional but rather based on politics of retribution.”
He added: “To avoid the embarassment of losing the case the best way was to take this step (settling out of court). While government and police must be commended for taking this humble step, the implications of such an action on how the Police and the Office of Chief Secretary discharge their duties are enormous. This only confirms the existing public perception that the Police and the Chief Secretary are not professional in their work especially when dealing with the critics of the President.”
Munthali continued: “It also signals the high level of impunity that continues to characterise these two offices whereby political interests of the ruling party reigns supreme over Constitutionalism.”
This is not the first time a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government has been called out by the courts on the very same issue of withdrawing security from a sitting Vice President.
Just after the 2009 elections, the DPP withdrew security from then Voice President Joyce Banda after she fell out with then President Bingu wa Mutharika but the courts quickly reinstated the security. Joyce Banda went on to become State President.
Ironically, current Minister of Justice Samuel Tembenu told the country after VP Chilima left the DPP that the government will not take away anything as it is only giving him what he is entitled to.
It was the same Tembenu as head of the Judiciary who allowed for the DPP to not only repeat its 2012 blunder before quickly reinstating it, without contest, but also decided to admit culpability to accept wrong doing
Further irony to the matter is based on the fact that the current Secretary to the President and Cabinet Lloyd Muhara who operationalizes such orders was a sitting judge at the high court when the courts threw the book at DPP government of Joyce Banda matter.
This means that that taxpayers money will now be used to pay for this deliberate error.
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U issued a circular regarding the amount of support that is supposed to be accorded to VP in terms of security and fleet. Can we get the right circular, because we need to know what is the correct version now?.
Apumbwa inu, Simunati mumva kuwawa zenizeni. We call this KULUZA 1. Next album called KULUZA 2 to be released next May, 2019. Munya muona.
When all is said and done, the biggest loser is the taxpayer. Very painful
He is just wasting tax payers money. Nothing good he is doing apart from his campaign, he stopped working a long time ago and cannot be trusted. He tells us he knows who are plundering the resource yet he can’t speak out but want to be elected president then he will speak. Geez, I wish the position of Vice President was abolished, it serves no purpose at all. He is just milking the cow.
Sure. But guys, this 45yr old dude seems to be ageing faster. Why? A person of his caliber in his current state of affluence can’t look older than APM. Bvuto longokwata azimai mwa boil tu limenelo. Am wel ahead of him agewise in my middle 50s but he looks as old as my dad. Why? Adzaoneka bwanji cha mma 60 ngati atafikako?
Za manyazi we got the conference they had on tape. That bunch of human beings are tarnishing DPP and APM. Masterminded of ugogodi. Shame. Tembenu Lawyer koma kumabwetuka ngati akubwetuka za mzeru. Manyazi bwanji. Bweraninso poyera mutiuze Amalawi zotsatira zake. Shame shame shame
Fellow malawians,that is exactly what happens when you have a Failed president with a bunch of Failed political party members running a Failed state.God help us
MBC must also report this on their online page if they have senses
The police and opc are all Dunderhead,
They don’t know what they are suppose to do but just being misused by these Diphiphi gurus.
They have got nothing to offer to the masses but just to please their master DPP.
Any government comes in next year but apart from DPP, the first persons to be fired should be this secretary to the government Mhara and then the police spokesperson bcoz both of them are just batch of salvages or losers
Next stop is at MBC this Sembereka guy and his toy boy Philip Business. At MBC the list goes on.
The inspector general is a premitive, idiot pumbwa. The state house is controlled by female pumbwaness. Mhara is a pumbwalous judge, he is busy counting stealing money rather than reading the constitution dictionary. You are now ashamed and you have made the whole state house to be ashamed and if I was the sitting president I could have fired you immediately. Now that Malawians to know your dullness, you two pumbwalous have to pay the damages rather Malawians tax payers money to be wasted. Shame on you
Where are hard truth, Noxy , Santana and the likes?. You see this is the price that we are paying as tax payers for the scanty and below par leadership that we have in this. I hate people who use their mouths not brain. Pathetic chicken brains
tembenu head of judiciary?
Not important news anyway
Bwana Silica pitani ku school to appreciate the importance of this issue
@ silica This is the very reason why some of us call people like you as being chicken brain. You mean you can’t see the price that Malawians are going to pay for DPP’s stupidity and erratic behavoiur. The money that will be used Tottenham legal costs will not come from your pocket. It’s the tax that that poor woman and man out there pays that will be misused here. This is silly. Some of us said that that decision was costly , unnecessary and stupid but since Mutharika is simply mediocre , he and his cronies in Jose and… Read more »
DPP honchos exposed. This is embarrassing for OPC as now we know they’re just puppets of the president.