Speaker Consults on Convicted MP

Speaker consults on convicted MP

The Malawi Speaker of Malawi Parliament Chimunthu Banda says The Minister of Justice will give a legal opinion on the fate of the Machinga South East MP Reverend Wilson Ndomondo who was convicted of assault and malicious damage last month.

He meanwhile sits in a public gallery. He claims he has been tossed from one office to the other in an attempt to be sworn in after the Malawi electoral commission declared him a winner while in jail awaiting sentencing.

The Magistrate court sitting in Machinga, southern Malawi, on May 9 this year convicted him on three counts of causing grievous harm, common assault and malicious damage against Henderson Mleme who was his opponent during the elections .

Ndomondo was sentenced to three years imprisonment with hard labour or a fine of K400,000. He paid the fine and was released on June 12 , 2009.

The Malawi Electoral Commission is yet to decide his fate. However the spokesperson for the Electoral commission Fegus Lipenga said Ndomondo ‘s conviction meant he was out of parliamentary race .

Banda said Ndomondo would be advised accordingly.

Section 51(2) of the constitution says no person shall be qualified to be nominated or elected as a Member of Parliament within the last seven years after conviction by a competent court of a crime involving dishonesty or moral turpitude.

Legal experts have said Ndomondo’s case fits this description