By Lord Denning
”IN THE MATTER OF DPP NGC MEETING, CONVENTION, AND COURT ORDER OF 90 DAYS ULTIMATUM
On 29 September, the High Court ordered the DPP to hold a National Governing Council (NGC) meeting and an elective political conference (call it Convention) within 90 days. From 29 September, 2023, it follows that the Court gave the DPP until 28 December, 2023 (the 90th day from 29 September) to conduct hold its NGC meeting and its National Political Conference (popularly known as Convention).
Why did the Court make this decision (one may ask)?
There was a purported NGC meeting that was held at Nkopola Lodge in Mangochi on 3rd July this year. The DPP last held its National Political Conference on 2nd July 2018 where its NGC office bearers were elected. Article 10(1) of the DPP constitution enjoins the NGC to meet at least once every year. In defiance of this (and I think ‘violation’ sounds better), the entire period of five years (from 2nd July 2018 to 1st July 2023) and counting had gone without NGC meeting.
The five-year term for the NCG expired on 1st July 2023. Following this expiry, on 3rd July 2023 (precisely two days later), Mutharika called for the purported NGC meeting which deliberately excluded other NGC members as elected on 2nd July 2018 such as the Kondwani Nankhumwas and the Grezelder Jeffrys kind of estranged officials. Instead, strange individuals not outlined as NGC members under Article 10(6) and (7) of the DPP Constitution were invited and proceeded to attend as NGC members. This phenomenon heralded irregularity of significant proportions.
This purported NGC meeting made a resolution which, among others, endorsed the current party president, Peter Mutharika, as the torch bearer for the DPP in the coming 2025 presidential election. This NGC meeting was, however, challenged as being illegal. The exclusion of legitimate NGC members recognized by Article 10(6) and (7) of the DPP Constitution and inclusion of illegitimate NGC members compounded the illegality.
The estranged DPP Vice President for the South, Kondwani Nankhumwa, together with the DPP Secretary General, Grelzeder Jeffrey and NGC members such as Jappie Mhango and Yusuf Nthenda took the matter to Court seeking an Order to nullify the proceedings and resolutions made at the challenged NGC meeting arguing that the purported NGC meeting was conducted in breach of the DPP Constitution. The High Court agreed with the arguments and nullified the NGC meeting, describing it as ‘a sham’ and a threat to intra-party democracy. Thus the Court proceeded to make an Order requiring the party to hold a “properly constituted National Governing Council meeting and Elective National Political Conference” within ninety days.
The National Political Conference shall be the supreme organ of the party [seeArticle 8(1)] and is, according to Article 8(3)(c) of the DPP Constitution, charged with the responsibility to elect office holders of various positions in the NGC subject to prior screening and approval of the candidates by the Central Committee. This goes to emphasize the point that only those individuals that were elected at the convention held on 2nd July 2018 are the legitimate NGC members and not some self-imposed individuals or individuals which Mutharika or anybody thereof simply dreamed into the NGC.
The Political Conference is further endowed with the power “to create or abolish positions within the structure of the party” (see Article 8(3)(d) of the DPP Constitution). To the extent that Mutharika unilaterally created a position of Presidential Spokesperson doubling as Party’s Spokesperson which was given to one Shadrick Namalomba, and the creation of such position did not involve the National Political Conference, there is substantial breach of Article 8(3)(d) of the Constitution. Owing to such breach, such a creation is invalid. This entails that Namalomba is a useless shell that has no constitutional meaning to the DPP as a party and he cannot validly speak for the party therefore.
The NGC has, according to Article 10(10)(d) of the DPP Constitution, the power to set dates for the National Political Conferences as it has done at the Golden Peacock meeting yesterday in which it has set 16th December (about 12 days before the 90 days’ court-given ultimatum) as the nominated day for the DPP’s National Political Conference.
To the extent that the NGC was dully constituted (as to only include those members that are legitimate NGC members having being elected at the convention in 2018, the meeting was valid and resolutions therefrom also valid. It does not matter whether some NGC officials chose not to come after being dully invited. That is their own option and agony to deal with. And one beautiful thing about this meeting is that it appears to be aiming to comply with the Court Order that spelled the 90 days’ ultimatum. It will be an act of shooting himself in the foot for Mutharika to continue dreaming that the yesterday’s NCG meeting was illegal. More deadly will be his non-compliance with the Court Order upon entertaining bizarre illusions and delusions that he owns DPP as he, perhaps, owns his toothbrush. He will be irredeemably disappointed big time.
It is well settled that Courts must safeguard compliance of their Orders unless the Order is stayed or set aside. Strictly speaking, Courts Orders are meant to be complied with. This goes to the root of administration of justice. If a party concerned by Court Order was to have liberty not comply with the Court Order, the very authority of the Court would be greatly undermined. The Courts would be reduced to useless gatherings whose decisions would be kicked away by a party that choses to ignore them. If I imagine that scenario, I imagine total chaos. It is for that reason that non-compliance with Court Orders is met with sanctions to the non-complying party. This is done so as to maintain order in the community and to preserve the integrity of the Courts. Otherwise, if non-compliance was to be tolerated, there would be chaos in our society as a state of lawlessness would prevail.
But perhaps DPP (particularly the faction led by Mutharika) is just trying to be DPP that we all know: a party of lawlessness. The blatant disregard of its own constitution speaks volumes of this inherent tendency of the DPP. Even when the DPP had the chance to govern the country, we all witnessed how quickly the country was descending into a lawlessness State reminiscent of Banana Republic. Party cadres were becoming untouchable as they could perpetrate criminal acts such as beating people (including DPP officials holding a press conference that did not have the ‘blessing’ of the party president – remember Brown Mpinganjira was beaten in full view of cameras?) and go scot-free.
But that lawlessness tendency, unfortunately, cannot be permitted to flourish in our governance space as long as it extends its ugly wings to domains that invoke jurisdiction of the Courts. The Courts will always safeguard their integrity as well as the legal order of the society. This is why in its lawless mode, DPP will perpetually sail in troubled waters. In fact, when I put my judicial prophetic lenses, I see Mutharika and his troupes losing the party to Nankhumwa and his crew, a faction which appears keen to operate by the book of the law. Mutharika will, one day, wake up totally surprised and confused. Finding that the party is gone!
©THE QUEENS BENCH
