LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The Constitutional Court that has just completed hearing of the high profile case between UTM’S Saulos Claus Chilima, the first petitioner together with Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi Congress Party (MCP), the second petitioner and Professor Arthur Peter Muthalika, the first respondent and the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), the second respondent, has ordered the first petitioner to pay K300, 000 as costs within seven days for delaying submissions by 10th December, 2019, the date the Court set aside for the same.
According to the Court Order released on 10th December, 2019, the Court had been informed that the first petitioner had not effected service of Final Submissions upon the Respondents by 16:30 hours of the said date as per its directions.
The Court Order further states that in order for the case to be expedited and justice be delivered, the Respondents should accept the Final Submissions from the first petitioner and that they should serve the first petitioner with written submissions within twenty four hours.
On 6th December, 2019, the Constitutional Court in Lilongwe completed hearing of the controversial case of the alleged vote rigging in which Dr Saulos Claus Chilima and Dr Lazarus Chakwera want the results of the May 21 polls to be nullified and subsequently re-run the same.
However, the Court ordered both the petitioners and the respondents to make both oral and written submissions to the same before 10th December, 2019.
The court will reconvene on 19 and 20 December, 2019 to hear oral and legal arguments and submissions from all parties.
All the four parties to the case have been given three hours each to make their presentations and also one hour each to make their responses.
The nation is waiting with anxiously court’s verdict on the matter.
