Court rebuffs MCP faction again
The High Court in Lilongwe has dismissed an application in which a faction of the opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) demanded a national convention, saying the group no longer has sufficient interest in the matter because the party had new office holders
The faction wanted to add new applicants to the case, according their lawyer Wesley Namasala.
This is the second time for the faction to lose a case after the same court dismissed an injunction stopping the elections.
Dismissing the fresh application with costs, High Court of Malawi senior deputy registrar Justus Kishindo said it was not in dispute that the applicants, Lackson Khamalatha and 26 others, filed the summons to be added to the case in their capacity as district chairpersons.
Further, Kishindo said it was also not in dispute that following the elections from 24 September, the applicants were no longer members of the district committees.
He said: “It is also not in dispute that only district chairpersons can call for a convention in MCP. They wanted all the three reliefs, including one that is available to district chairpersons. Now that they are no longer district chairpersons, they have lost their standi and the application cannot stand.”
Namasala said his clients were appealing the order in which the court dismissed the injunction stopping the elections.
In May this year, some MCP officials dragged the party to court demanding an emergency convention asserting serious irregularities on how the party’s leadership filled gaps in the national executive committee (NEC).
