Attempted bribery of constitutional judges in Malawi
No incident was noted during the demonstrations which took place under high police surveillance in the streets of the capital Lilongwe, in Blantyre and Mzuzu. The Constitutional Court is due to issue a long-awaited judgment on the 2019 elections in January.
Last week, the president of the Constitutional Court denounced an attempt to bribe its judges. According to Agence France Presse, the head of the independent office in charge of fighting corruption in Malawi confirmed that he had received a complaint on this subject. However, he has not publicly identified the suspects and their possible membership in a political party.
He promised to act quickly. These revelations have rekindled tensions in the country, as the court is due to issue its findings by the end of January on the fairness of the May 2019 presidential election.
In power since 2014, Peter Mutharika, the outgoing president had been re-elected with 38.57% of the vote, according to the results of the Election Commission. The main opponent Saulos Chilima had won 35.41% of the vote.
Saulos Chilima and another unsuccessful candidate at the polls had immediately denounced numerous irregularities, including counting documents crossed out with white to erase, and seized justice. The camp of the outgoing head of state has always denied any fraud.
