Malawi’s Constitutional Court Judges who nullified the 2019 Presidential Elections have won the prestigious Chatham House Prize.
The five Judges are Healey Potani, Ivy Kamanga, Dingiswayo Madise, Redson Kapindu and Michael Tembo.
In a letter to Potani who was lead Judge dated October 23, Director of Chatham House Robert Niblett said the Judges had been voted for as the winner of this year’s award.
“Our members recognized you for upholding the independence of the Judiciary in your historic February 202 ruling on Malawi’s presidential elections,” said Niblett.
According to Niblett, there are plans to present the award to the judges in Lilongwe in the near future and in the United Kingdom in June next year at the think tank’s London Conference.
The prize is presented every year since it was initiated in 2005.
Past winners of the award include American politician Hillary Clinton, former Mozambique president Joaquim Chissano and former Ghana leader John Kufuor.
Chatham House was established in 1920 and is a world leading centre for research and analysis of international affairs.
In 2019, Malawi held Presidential Elections in which Malawi Electoral Commission announced the then Malawi leader Peter Mutharika as winner.
But Mutharika’s opponents, Lazarus Chakwera and Saulos Chilima, challenged the outcome at the court.
After hearing the case for months, the five-judge panel of the Constitutional Court nullified the polls.
The ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court of Appeal in May and Malawi held Fresh Presidential Elections on June 23.
In the fresh elections, Chakwera and Chilima joined forces – as candidate and runningmate respectively – to defeat Mutharika.
