Malawi election body scrutinized by MPs, president moves to overturn ruling

Top brass of the Malawi Electoral Commission, MEC, came under parliamentary scrutiny following a Constitutional Court ruling annulling the May 2019 presidential elections..

Parliament’s Public Appointments Committee led by Speaker Catherine Gotani Hara met the commissioners to review the qualifications and competencies of the Jane Ansah-led body deemed to have bundled the vote.

The speaker in an address said: “The Public Appointments Committee is the committee mandated to review the performance and conduct of public officials. They therefore individually review the conduct of the commissioners and render a verdict.”

Malawi’s President Peter Mutharika rejected the Constitutional Court’s decision to overturn his re-election. He has also filed an appeal to right the wrong that the ruling made with the MEC also filing a challenge as at Friday afternoon.

“We’re actually following what the court ordered, so the right of appeal that everyone has. We can’t stop anyone from doing so. So that’s what’s going to happen.

“If the courts make a decision, we will have to enforce it. So we will follow what the courts say and we will follow any other direction that may come from the courts,” the speaker stressed.

Malawi made history on Monday when the Constitutional Court granted the opposition’s request to annul the results of last May’s presidential election on allegations of fraud. The only African country to have successfully pulled off a similar feat is Kenya in 2017.