Africa-Press – Malawi. The 2025 Malawi Congress Party parliamentary candidate for Lilongwe City Mtandire–Mtsiriza Constituency, George Zulu, has taken a fresh legal step by challenging the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) decision that declared Alfred Gangata of the Democratic Progressive Party the winner of the parliamentary race.
Zulu has now filed a new case in the High Court of Malawi, arguing that MEC’s declaration of Gangata as the winner was unlawful and should be overturned in favour of a fresh by-election.
Speaking in an interview on Wednesday, Zulu clarified that the legal action is not an appeal against the ruling delivered by Justice Redson Kapindu Mdeza (commonly referred to as Judge Mdeza).
Instead, he said the case directly challenges MEC’s decision to announce Gangata as the winner following the court’s earlier ruling.
“This is completely a new case in the High Court, not the Supreme Court of Appeal. We are not appealing the judgement delivered by Judge Mdeza. We are appealing MEC’s decision to declare Gangata the winner,” said Zulu.
Zulu’s petition argues that MEC acted unlawfully because the electoral process was tainted by serious irregularities, including missing ballot papers and suspected tampering with void votes.
According to the petition, the District Tally Centre discovered that only 345 void ballots were available out of the expected 445, raising questions about the integrity and handling of the voting materials.
Zulu argues that such discrepancies created a situation where the true will of the voters could not be reliably determined, making the declaration of a winner legally questionable.
In an earlier ruling, the High Court found that MEC had failed to properly discharge its constitutional duties during the management of the election process.
The court said the commission’s handling of the vote counting and election materials compromised transparency and undermined constitutional principles governing elections. Despite those findings, Judge Mdeza ordered MEC to determine the final result using the materials that were available.
Following that directive, MEC proceeded to declare Gangata the winner — a decision that Zulu now argues was deeply flawed and inconsistent with the court’s concerns about the integrity of the electoral materials.
Zulu is now asking the High Court to set aside MEC’s declaration and order a fresh by-election in the constituency, insisting that only a new vote can restore credibility to the electoral outcome. He maintains that allowing the result to stand despite unresolved discrepancies would set a dangerous precedent for Malawi’s democratic process.
The High Court of Malawi has scheduled March 10, 2025 as the date for hearing the case. Zulu says he remains confident that the court will rule in favour of transparency and justice. “This case is about protecting democracy and ensuring that the electoral process reflects the true will of the people,” he said.
The case is expected to attract significant national attention, as its outcome could shape how electoral disputes are handled in Malawi, particularly in situations where irregularities affect ballot accountability and vote verification.
A ruling in favour of Zulu could potentially force a fresh parliamentary contest in the Mtandire–Mtsiriza constituency, while also raising broader questions about the operational procedures of the Malawi Electoral Commission in managing contested elections.
For More News And Analysis About Malawi Follow Africa-Press
