Supreme Court grants UDF MPs stay order

The Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal has granted 11 United Democratic Front (UDF) members of Parliament (MPs) an injunction pending judicial review in a case where they sought redress on Speaker Richard Msowoya’s impending decision on their status based on Section 65 of the Constitution.

The order, issued by Supreme Court judge Frank Kapanda on Friday, was served on Msowoya and the acting Clerk of Parliament Roosevelt Gondwe on Friday, according to UDF spokesperson Ken Ndanga.

In an interview yesterday, Ndanga said the MPs, in their application, were asking the court to stop the Speaker from making his determination on the matter unless a judicial review is heard.

He said the reasons were bordering on the Speaker’s perceived impartiality in the matter considering the political allegiance of the petitioner, Salima North-West MP Jessie Kabwila (Malawi Congress Party-MCP), and the Speaker’s position in MCP where he is vice-president.

Ndanga claimed UDF is aware of an attempt to buy sympathy from the public by the petitioners by claiming that they are receiving threats from UDF MPs.

When contacted yesterday, the Speaker said he could not comment on the issue as he was yet to see the order. Efforts to talk to Gondwe proved futile as his mobile phone was out of reach.

According to a copy of the stay order which The Nation has seen, the judge has stopped Msowoya from invoking Standing Order 207(4) “by demanding the applicants [UDF MPs] to within seven days, respond to a petition on Section 65 of the Constitution presented by [activist] Billy Mayaya.”

Earlier, High Court judge Healey Potani rebuffed the UDF MPs on the basis that their application was premature as the Speaker had not yet made a decision.

According to our sister newspaper Weekend Nation, Msowoya faces impeachment over his alleged bias in the handling of the petition by Mayaya to declare vacant seats of the 11 UDF MPs who moved to the government benches in Parliament.

UDF has 11 MPs seated on the government side, which has increased DPP’s numerical strength in the 193-member National Assembly to 63.

The MPs not affected by the move are the party’s leader in the House Lucius Banda, party president Atupele Muluzi as well as Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament Clement Chiwaya.

Following the relocation of the 11 to the government side, UDF woke up to the reality of its decision when it missed on the schedule of opposition political parties to respond to the State of the Nation Address which President Peter Mutharika delivered on May 5 2015.