Rerun bid justifiable, MCP’s Mkaka tells court in Malawi poll case

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Secretary General, Eisenhower Mkaka, who is a fifth witness for party presidential hopeful Lazarus Chakwera at the Constitutional Court hearing the elections case in Lilongwe has said the bid to for re-run is “justifiable” on the basis of irregularities and illegalities.

Mkaka said this on Monday when Attorney General, Kalekeni Kaphale, who is representing the Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) in the case, was cross-examining him in the case.

The MCP secretary general and legislator told the Court that about 71 presiding officers confessed to having changed the electoral results in absence of political party monitors.

However, the sentiments did not amuse Kaphale who tried to make Mkaka to withdraw it but a panel of five judges intervened and the sentiments have been recorded.

Mkaka said election results were characterised by serious credibility gaps and need to be nullified.

He said call for “rerun is justifiable,” saying  Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) did not work as neutral arbiters in the polls but were  responsible to manipulate results in favour of President Peter Mutharika the first respondent in the case.

Mkaka said MEC subverted the will of the people.

“They took the role of picking the President of the country instead of being a neutral referee who accepts the will of the people to elect a President,” said Mkaka.

When put to him by Kaphale that he was merely stating an opinion, Mkaka said: “That is not an opinion, that’s a fact.”

Kaphale insisted Mkaka was making a summation of opinion.

“Whilst it is a summation, it doesn’t qualify to be an opinion but a fact,” said Mkaka.

Mkaka, whose sworn statement is on Constitutional Court record, claimed that MCP’s Chakwera won the May 21 elections by 2,072,826 votes against DPPs Peter Mutharika who allegedly got 1,817,473 votes.

“We strongly believe that Mec concealed a figure of 317,154 votes for Dr Lazarus Chakwera from his Central Region stronghold,” reads part of Mkaka’s statement.

Chakwera, who came second in the presidential race, claims through another  his key witnesses, Peter Lackson, that he polled 1 955 901 votes against Mutharika’s 1 873 689, according to the party’s parallel national tally centre.

But, according to results released by the MEC, second respondent in the case—Mutharika won the race by 1 940 709 votes, trailed by Chakwera with 1 781 740 votes—a difference of 158 969 votes.

The electoral body placed first respondent UTM Party president Saulos Chilima on third position, with 1 018 369 votes—a margin of 6 225 lower votes going by what MCP is claiming in court using their parallel national tally centre.

Chakwera is asking the court to nullify the results of the May 21 Presidential Election as he claims it was not conducted in accordance with the Constitution.

The MCP presidential hopeful is also asking the Constitutional Court to direct MEC to organise and conduct a fresh Presidential Election in strict conformity with the Constitution and PPEA.

Chakwera claims, in his sworn statement, that MEC accepted the use of results tally sheets defaced with Tippex as a record for the polled votes, in place of original results tally sheets with no Tippex on them, without any plausible justification.