Malawi: court to hear election appeal

Police were deployed around the headquarters of Malawi’s Constitutional Court in Lilongwe, Wednesday, as the court examined requests for the annulment of the presidential election.

According to witnesses, their deployment sought to avoid any incident following a volatile political environment since the electoral commission proclaimed President Peter Mutharika winner of the May elections.

His two main rivals Lazarus Chakwera and Saulos Chilima, who came second and third respectively, reported fraud, including the use of unofficial discharge sheets, erasures and, the surprisingly high number of fluid corrector stains overloaded with strikes on the ballots.

Malawians took to the streets of Blantyre on June 20 to protest the result of the country’s disputed presidential election.

Further protests are scheduled for 4 and 5 July by a civil society collective.

President Peter Mutharika was declared the winner of a presidential election in May with 38.57% of votes, narrowly securing a second five-year term.