Without considering the political impasse that has clouded the country aftermath of May 21 tripartite elections, Southern African Development Community (SADC) has congratulated Malawi for hosting what they say ‘peaceful and successful’ elections.
The congratulatory remarks were made by the Deputy Prime Minister of International Relations and Cooperations of the Republic of Namibia who also happens to be the ex chairperson of SADC council of ministers, Honourable Netumbo Nandi.
Nandi – Ndaitwa made the remarks during the opening ceremony of the SADC Council of Ministers meeting which took place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania ahead of the 39th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government on 17- 18 August, 2019.
According to Nandi-Ndaitwa, conducting credible and peaceful elections is not an easy task, saying it is inline with SADC’s collective efforts to consolidate peace and democratict governance in the SADC region.
Repercussion of May 21 elections, resulted into different opinions from different stakeholders including the competitors of the disputed elections.
United Transformation Movement (UTM) President Saulos Chilima and his counterpart, Malawi Congress Party (MCP) leader Lazarus Chakwera challenged the victory in court, the case currently underway in the High Court sitting in Lilongwe.
On the Other hand human right grouping known as Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) has been organizing demonstrations calling for resignation of the electoral body Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) chairperson Jane Ansah to step down for managing what fraud elections.
The electoral body declared president Peter Mutharika as the winner of the disputed elections with 38 percent seconded by MCP’s Chakwera with 35 percent of the votes Chilima of UTM trailed on third position with 20 percent.