Bandawe threatens to drag MCP to court for declaring Lunguzi as winner in Dedza East Constituency

Patrick Bandawe has threatened to drag the main opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) to court for declaring incumbent Member of Parliament for Dedza East Constituency Juliana Lunguzi as winner in the Sunday’s primaries held in the constituency.

It was initially indicated that Lunguzi had been defeated by Patrick Bandawe with 821 votes against Lunguzi’s 815.

The declaration of Bandawe as winner raised eyebrows after delegates for one of the aspirants, Mussa M’bwana, reportedly joined Bandawe’s queue to up his numbers as Lunguzi’s queue had pulled more delegates than her contenders.

The development forced MCP to call for an emergency meeting where the party reversed the results and declared Lunguzi as a winner.

But this did not go down well with Bandawe who issue a statement where he argued that the party has robbed him victory.

“Why has the party made the decision based on only one side of the story? While they have listened to Hon. Lunguzi’s version of events, the party has not yet made an attempt to hear me out. As I issue this press statement, on Monday 4pm, the party has made no effort to reach out to me. What kind of justice is this?

“If the party felt there were irregularities during the polls, the option was to declare the elections null and void and order a re-run. What prophetic basis is the MCP using to determine that Hon. Lunguzi would have won had the 31 areas had taken part in the election,” said Bandawe

He added: “I request the party to provide me with an explanation within the next 24 hours about how it decided to declare Hon. Lunguzi as winner of the elections despite results of the vote, as confirmed at the constituency level and by the Presiding Officer who was duly assigned and trusted by the party HQ.

“I will be forced to seek legal redress if the party does not address this matter, especially in view of the fact that the party seemed to have settled on the winner long before the elections and it is determined to ensure this dream is not disrupted.”

Meanwhile debate on the matter continues.