DPP govt. says no money for LL rerun polls

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Malawi Congress Party candidate Ulemu Msungama might have had won the polls case in Court but his trials are not over. Now he has to keep banging doors if the polls are to happen.

Minister of Finance and Economic Development Goodall Gondwe has said government has no money at the moment to hold fresh polls in Lilongwe South East constituency as ordered by the Supreme Court of Appeal on Monday.

The Supreme Court annulled the 2014 Lilongwe South East Parliamentary elections results and ruled that there should be a rerun on grounds that there was rigging.

Goodal Gondwe
Goodall Gondwe says govt has no money for the elections.

Ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Bentry Namasasu was declared winner of the 2014 election but the court ruling means that he is no longer a Member of Parliament.

Speaking in an interview with Malawi24, Gondwe said government has no money for the fresh polls.

“We don’t have money at the moment for the polls in Lilongwe South East constituency and we have to source it from somewhere,” said Gondwe in a brief interview.

Earlier this week, Malawi Electoral Commission’s Acting Chief Elections Officer Thandie Nkovole said in a press statement that the elections will be held anytime soon.

“The commission wishes to advise all stakeholders that it is putting in place measures to hold the rerun as soon as practicable. The Commission notes that this will be the first time on record that there will be a rerun of this nature in the electoral history of the country,” said Nkovole.

However, Nkovole said they were critically studying the court’s ruling as well as provisions of the existing electoral laws in order to come up with an acceptable procedure in conducting the rerun.

Meanwhile analysts have described the court ruling as a win for democracy in the country.