2nd inspection of polling materials yields little
Some of the documents which Malawi Electoral commission (Mec) used in parliamentary elections for the disputed three constituencies in Chikwawa and Nsanje districts were yet again not found during an inspection exercise at the commission’s warehouse on Tuesday.
This comes after Mec failed to locate the documents during a similar exercise at the commission’s main warehouse in Maoni,Blantyre, last month.
Petitioners’ lawyer Wester Kosamu said they were yet to write the court informing it of their findings.
“After we failed to find the documents at the commission’s warehouse in Maoni, the commission argued that the missing documents were at this other warehouse, but they are not even there.
“The Mec officials then told us that the missing documents were at their ICT department but we refused to go there because the court order we had only talked about inspecting the documents at the commission’s warehouse,” Kosamu said.
Kosamu is looking for results sheets, tally sheets, counter foils, log books and voter registers which were used in the elections.
Malawi Congress Party shadow members of Parliament Kafandikhale Mandevana of Nsanje Central, Enoch Chizuzu (Nsanje North) and Foster Thipiwa (Chikwawa East) are contesting results of the parliamentary elections in their constituencies.
Following the elections, Mec declared Francis Kasaila of Nsanje Central, Esther Mcheka Chilenje (Nsanje North) and Sam Khumbanyiwa (Chikwawa East), winners of the parliamentary elections.
Instead of finding the documents, they were looking for at the commission’s Maoni warehouse, the people who are conducting the exercise were greeted by boxes containing reflectors, banners and other irrelevant documents.
