Raphael Mhone of the People’s Party (PP) has challenged unofficial results in Nkhata Bay Central Constituency where he has suffered defeat with three votes.

The former Parliamentarian, who is also a lawyer by profession, is calling for the annulment of the results and conduct a re-run, failure which he said he will challenge the matter in court.

Mhone told the media on Wednesday soon after the announcement of the results that his competitor Symon Vuwa Kaunda of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had violated the Political Parties Act 2018 by giving out handouts prior and during the Tuesday elections.

“We complained about this even before the results were out because giving out handouts is an offence. But no action was taken.

“Secondly, we noticed that one ballot box from one of his stronghold areas was not sealed. So, we feel it might have been tampered with,” he said.

The constituency’s returning officer Gustove Kamanga refused to comment on the matter.

The unofficial results indicate that Vuwa-Kaunda amassed 6 415 against Mhone’s 6 412.

Source : Nation Publications Limited