According to zimeye.net the Malawian Constitutional Court judges refused a USS$20 Million bribe which he claimed was awarded to the judges for them to quash the case in favour of incumbent President Peter Mutarika.
In a 500 paged judgement delivered for more than 10 hours, the constitutional court judges came to the conclusion the May 21, 2019 General Elections were null and void and further asked the Malawi Electoral Commission to organize fresh elections within 150 days from the declaration.
Ghana's former Republican President Dr Jerry Rawlings said this landmark judgement has proven that Malawi is indeed governed by rule of law.
“I have been following the elections case in Malawi. Once again, this tiny Southern African country has proved to the whole world that it is governed by rule of law. A few minutes ago, the Court has nullified last years presidential elections.
You may argue with me that such similar nullification has occurred before in Kenya. But I challenge that the Malawi case is unprecedented” he said according to zimeye.net.
“There were bribery allegations. The Judges stood for the truth and could not accept any money from any politician. We are told that a sum of about US$20 million was offered to the Judges but they refused and decided to uphold the rule of law. If that same money was given to some Ghanaian Judges, they would sold the whole country, including selling Ghanaians abroad. But the Malawian Judges stood firm on the truth.
I admire the Malawi Judiciary which stands for the truth. As Ghanaians, there is a lot we can learn from the Malawi experience.
Congratulations to the people of Malawi”.
Weak public institutions have been fostering elites' abuse of power in Africa. Many countries establish courts and appoint judges that are nominally independent while tacitly endorsing elites' interference in the affairs of the judiciary.
By annulling this controversial election Malawi's highest court seized this opportunity not only to shake up their country's political and electoral infrastructure, but to send a message of judicial strength and independence to other African countries still wrestling with the shift from one-party rule to true multi-party democracy.
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