Blantyre — The Constitutional Court in the southern African nation of Malawi on Monday nullified the results of last year's presidential election, citing “widespread, systematic and grave” irregularities including significant use of correction fluid to alter the outcome.
A new vote will be held within 150 days, the court said in its unanimous ruling, saying at the end that it hoped the ruling would not "destroy the nation.' The two leading opposition candidates had challenged the narrow election win of President Peter Mutharika, alleging that irregularities affected over 1.4 million of the total 5.1 million votes cast.
Months of sometimes deadly unrest followed the announcement of the election results. The president and electoral commission acknowledged some irregularities but argued they were insufficient to affect the election's outcome. Monday's ruling can be appealed to the Supreme Court. The president's legal team refused to answer questions and hurriedly left the court premises. The attorney general, representing the electoral commission, said they would have to consult on next steps.
And all this time SADC was telling us the elections were free and fair, we are doomed as Africans.
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