By Isaac Salima:
Legal Adviser for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Charles Mhango has said the party’s National Governing Council member Nicholas Dausi remains fired despite the court’s nullification of the disciplinary committee that came up with the decision.
This week, the party announced Dausi’s dismissal for misconduct.
However, the High Court of Malawi yesterday nullified the party’s recently constituted disciplinary committee on the ground that it is unconstitutional.
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The ruling came after DPP vice president for the Southern Region Kondwani Nankhumwa protested the party’s decision to summon him to a hearing for undermining party leader Peter Mutharika.
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Ironically it is the same committee that came up with the decision to get rid of Dausi.
Asked if the nullification of the committee means Dausi is automatically reinstated in the party, Mhango said the decision still stands.
“The court has not said that all decisions by the disciplinary committee are nullified. The nullification starts from now onwards and it does not backdate. The development means that its previous decisions still stand,” Mhango said.
He further said the party will challenge the court’s nullification of the committee.
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“We have already instructed our lawyers to defend the claim that the committee is unconstitutional. We have given the lawyers several reasons including that honourable Nankhumwa was part of the decision that came up with that committee and one cannot benefit from your wrongdoing,” Mhango said.
Dausi yesterday maintained that he is yet to get communication from the party on his firing and that “I will only comment when I receive the official communication”.
Nankhumwa, through his lawyer Wapona Kita, argued that the disciplinary committee was wrongly composed as it has seven members instead of five.
