Court stops Mzuzu City Council from paying DPP
The High Court has granted an order against the Mzuzu City Council (MCC), restraining it from honouring the K3.5 million pledge it made to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) during a fundraising event held in Lilongwe two months ago.
In the order, signed yesterday by the council’s legal counsel Victor Gondwe and the applicants’ lawyer Wesley Mwafulirwa, the MCC admits to have committed to give the DPP the amount in question.
The latest development contradicts what MCC spokesperson, Karen Msiska told The Daily Times yesterday that the institution neither made any payment nor committed to doing the same towards the Blue Night event.
The MCC is a third respondent in miscellaneous case number 41 of 2017 at the High Court Registry in Zomba, in which five civil society organisations (CSOs) are suing the ruling DPP for ransacking public institutions in the interest of the party.
“By consent between applicants and the third respondent it is hereby ordered as follows: the third respondent admits that it indeed made a pledge/commitment to contribute K3.5 million towards the first respondent’s fundraiser,” reads the order in part.
According to the order, the council has sworn not to make any contribution to the DPP in line with the pledge and that it will not make any such contributions to similar events in the future.
Speaking in an interview, Mwafulirwa said, according to the order the MCC will be in contempt of court should it in the future be in breach of the order.
“They realised they were wrong and they approached us on the same, and by virtue of the order which is in a sense a court judgment, the council will never in future or forever make payments to fundraising events, should they go back on that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or entire council will be arrested,” Mwafulirwa said.
However, the court has ruled in favour of the council and has since removed it as party to the case.
When asked why he gave contradictory statements, Msiska said there was some misinformation between CSOs’ and the council’s lawyers. Msiska then refused to comment further and referred us to Gondwe.
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