- Mutharika hired a South African law firm to appeal the ConCourt ruling that set aside the 2019 presidential election.
- He was charged US$788 500.00 for the entire legal process.
MALAWIAN President Peter Mutharika’s appeal to that country’s Supreme Court challenging the nullification of last year’s elections by the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) was on Wednesday thrown out, Zim Morning Post can report.
The ConCourt on May 29, 2019 overturned the results that had seen Mutharika re-elected, citing the fraudulent use of a correction fluid at tallying stage to alter the election results.
The ConCourt also ordered that an election re-run be conducted on May 19, 2020.
The Malawi Electoral Commission tried to convince the Supreme Court, saying staging a re-run would impact hard on the resources of this economically challenged country.
But the apex court rejected the proposal, with Justice Dingiswayo Modise saying democracy was expensive, and that citizens’ rights were paramount.
The Supreme Court also said it also had no mandate to stop the pursuit of constitutionally sound elections on the account of cost.
Mutharika had hired a South African law firm, Mboweni Maluleke Inc Attorneys, to appeal the ConCourt ruling that set aside the 2019 presidential election.
The South African attorneys charged him US$788 500.00 for the entire legal process.
