By Daniel Zimba:
The High Court sitting in Blantyre has ruled that it will, on November 3, commence hearing the case in which some candidates are contesting the outcome of the Blantyre City South Constituency election.
The Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) declared Veronica Ndalama winner of the September 16, 2025 Parliamentary Election.
High Court Judge Allan Muhome ruled that the case would continue next month after rejecting an objection brought forth by Ndalama’s lawyer Fred Chipembere, who sought the dismissal of the application to have the case heard in court.
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Muhome determined that allegations of voter corruption warranted further examination, rejecting the notion that procedural technicalities should obstruct the quest for justice.
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“On the present facts, the Mec made decisions in respect of the petitioners’ complaints. Whether those decisions confirmed or rejected the existence of an irregularity, those are matters for trial.
“The allegations that the first respondent corruptly influenced voters are serious ones requiring her reply. More importantly, ‘justice must not only be done but must also be seen to be done’. To that end, the allegations must be tested through trial rather than dismissed in a summary fashion,” the ruling reads.
The ruling emphasised that the essence of election petitions is to address alleged irregularities, highlighting the need for justice not only to be done but to be seen to be done.
Muhome also ordered the first petitioner, Rashid Abdul Gaffar, to file a reply within 14 days, adding that costs for the preliminary objection would not be awarded to any party.
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In this case, Gaffar and Alex Chimwala demand a review of the election results and a possible rerun, as they claim that Veronica Ndalama allegedly used corrupt means to influence the election outcomes on September 16, 2025.
Earlier this week, lawyer representing the two, Michael Chipeta, requested the court to hear his clients’ petitions.
In an interview after the ruling, Chipeta said he was glad that the court had accepted their plea to have the case heard.
“We welcome the ruling,” Chipeta said.
However, in the previous hearing, Fred Chipembere, who is representing Ndalama in the case, described the application as incompetent, claiming that it was filed prematurely before accessing Mec’s responses to concerns regarding the irregularities of the poll.
Besides declaring Ndalama winner on September 30, 2025, Mec Chairperson Annabel Mtalimanja referred all complaints regarding political handouts ahead of the election to the office of the Registrar of Political Parties, indicating that Mec was not mandated to address such issues.
Mec confirmed that Ndalama had secured 8,547 votes, followed by Gaffar, who had 7,672 votes out of a total of 30,134 against nine candidates.
