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CSOs sue DPP

Days after the collapse of planned dialogue with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to push for a refund of donations from State agencies, five civil society organisations (CSOs) have formally filed a lawsuit against the governing party.

Through their lawyer Wesley Mwafulirwa, the CSOs want DPP to pay back all the money it received from public institutions during its fundraising dinner and dance called Blue Night at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe on July 29 2017 where President Peter Mutharika was the guest of honour.

The First Couple opened the dance floor during the Blue Night

Through their action filed at the High Court of Malawi’s Zomba District Registry on Wednesday, the CSOs are also seeking a court order to stop DPP from ever sourcing or accepting donations from any public funds or public institutions unless it complies with the relevant legal framework.

In the Civil Cause Number 41 of 2017, the CSOs have sued the DPP as the first respondent, Lilongwe, Blantyre and Mzuzu city councils as second, third and fourth respondents, respectively. The groups have also taken Lilongwe Water Board (LWB) to court alongside the city councils and the DPP.

On the other hand, the CSOs leaders—Gift Trapence of Centre for the Development of People (Cedep), Youth and Society’s (YAS) Charles Kajoloweka, Robert Mkwezalamba of Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC), Timothy Mtambo of Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) and Moses Mkandawire of Livingstonia Synod’s Church and Society Programme—are first, second, third, fourth and fifth petitioners in that order.

Flashback: First Lady Gertrude Mutharika (L) and other DPP officials dancing
during the Blue Night

Mwafulirwa said his clients want the court to declare that the applicants have a right or freedom to access information on how public institutions funded DPP and how the other respondents spend public resources.

He said the CSOs also want a mandatory court order for the DPP to furnish them with names of all institutions that pledged donations to the fundraising cause or an order that compels the respondent public institutions to provide a breakdown of how much they donated or pledged towards the Blue Night.

Specifically on Mzuzu City Council (MCC), the CSOs want the court to grant them an order restraining the financially struggling council from fulfilling its pledge to, in future, make a donation of, or about K3.5 million to DPP.

Besides, the CSOs want a declaration that the donations the public institutions made to DPP contravene the doctrine of public trust, the  Constitution and Sections 23 and 76 of the Public Finance Management Act.

DPP spokesperson Francis Kasaila said his party was not aware of the lawsuit, but said “if they have indeed sued us, we will get the court processes”.

Prior to the court process, DPP engaged the CSOs in dialogue, but the CSOs pulled out after the party postponed a scheduled meeting where it was expected to furnish the groups with names of institutions that donated to the party and the date it planned to refund the donations.

Initially, when the CSOs, including Malawi Law Society (MLS), condemned DPP’s collection of funds from the State agencies, DPP secretary general Greselder  Jeffrey branded the criticisms as zachamba (nonsense), an utterance that angered the CSOs.

She later apologised for the uncouth language and engaged the CSOs in a dialogue that has since collapsed.

The CSOs argue that DPP’s conduct amounts to misuse and abuse of public resources contrary to the country’s legal framework.

The financial contributions publicly known are estimated at K13.5 million.

Under Section 178 of the Constitution and Section 23 of the Public Finance Management Act, no single tambala of public money is supposed to be expended unless such expenditure is authorised by an Appropriation Act or is a statutory expenditure.

Before its face-off with the CSOs is resolved, DPP on Friday took a Hino truck belonging to Nkhotakota District Hospital to ferry its members to and from Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe to see off the President to the United States of America to attend the 72nd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

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One Comment

  1. Good reporting! The K13.5M is indeed just the tip of an iceberg. And the DPP is still misusing public resources as we speak. The president has, again, gone to UNGA with his entire village to do shopping. He will, again, perform a disappearing act soon after the meeting. He will come back, again, with a paralyzed arm.

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