Malawi constitutional court nullifies election result, rules that President Peter Mutharika was not duly elected as president of Malawi, orders fresh elections in 151 days.
The court also criticised the conduct of the country’s electoral body in managing the elections describing it as very lacking and glaring incompetence.
It is not clear whether head will roll at the country electoral body, owing to the strong condemnation of their conducts by the court.
The case has gripped the nation and kept Malawians glued to radio stations for hours on end listening to live broadcast of witnesses presenting evidence of alleged vote rigging during a six-month-long hearing.
Runner-up Lazarus Chakwera, who lost by just 159,000 votes, alleges he was robbed of victory.
His Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the opposition United Transformation Movement (UTM) have petitioned the courts to annul the poll.
“It is clear that the use of Tippex (correction fluid) was employed by (electoral commission) officers to hide votes,” said judge Ivy Kamanga, reading from judgement.
“Use of Tippex was unjustifiable and an irregularity,” she said, adding the way in which the electoral commission “dealt with the alterations was not in line with the law, hence it was irregular”.
The court also said only a quarter of the results sheets were verified and said it “finds this to be a serious malpractice that undermined the elections”.
It is the first time a presidential election has been challenged on legal grounds in Malawi since independence from Britain in 1964.
“Credible, free and fair elections form a solid foundation for democracy,” judge chairman Healey Potani said in a preamble to the judgement.
