Malawi Government through the Attorney General Kalekeni Kaphale has asked the High Court to ban post-election demonstrations.
Kaphale has applied for an injunction to stop demonstrations against the outcome of the May 21 elections until the conclusion of the presidential election court case.
The Attorney General has mentioned organisers of the demonstrations Timothy Mtambo, Gift Trapence and the Human Rights Defenders (HRDC) as defendants in the case.
Mtambo and Trapence are chairperson and vice chairperson of the HRDC respectively and they have been organising demonstrations demanding the resignation of Malawi Electoral Commission Chairperson Jane Ansah accusing her of mismanaging the May 21 presidential elections.
Thousands of Malawians have been joining the demonstrations which on all occasions have been characterised by acts of violence such as looting, burning of buildings and damage to property. Fresh protests are expected to be held on Tuesday.
In his application, Kaphale said further demonstrations organised by the defendants will lead to more property damage and injuries to persons contrary to the constitutional right to property and security.
The AG asked the court to declare that the decision to hold Anti-Ansah demonstrations is illegal since there is a constitutional court case where UTM leader Saulos Chilima and Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president Lazarus Chakwera are challenging the outcome of the elections.
“The demonstrations are thereby prejudging the court case or are aimed at influencing the court to make a finding that the election was marred by irregularities,” Kaphale wrote.
He also asked the court to rule that the defendants shall no longer be allowed to hold further protests until they first pay for the losses so far inflicted on innocent citizens and businesses or until they provide adequate financial security covering the losses and damage so far.
The Attorney General proposed that those who want to take to the streets must deposit a K2 billion surety.
Meanwhile, the court has set Monday August 5th, as the day it is going to hear Kaphale’s application.
Anganga a DPP akufuna ntendere koma sakufuna chirungamo now listing very careful ngati chirungamo paribe musayembekezere ntendere like it or hate it but that’s for sure kkkkkkkkkk
As a concerned Malawian citizen I humbly ask the AG to explain how he determined to pay K3billion to one single citizen of the Lhomwe clan under similar circumstances. Why now he is demanding K2billion from the Malawians who are only exercising the constitutional right to demonstrate? Is this not hypocrisy on the part of the AG?