MW gvt mandatory Covid 19 vaccination directive hits snag: CSO, journalist get injunction

Lilongwe, Malawi: The Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) and journalist Mundango Nyirenda have obtained an injunction restraining the Malawi government from implementing its directive to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for all public servants, frontline staff, and journalists.

On Thursday 17 December 2021 Malawi’s Minister of Health, Khumbize Chiponda, announced that the ministry would be introducing mandatory vaccination as cases of COVID-19 continued to rise sharply in the country.

A statement from CDEDI Executive Director, Sylvester Namiwa reads, in part: “The High Court in Lilongwe, therefore, has set January 3, 2022, as the date for an interparty hearing on an injunction sought by the CDEDI, stopping the Ministry of Health from implementing the mandatory administration of the Covid-19 vaccine; stopping Parliament from demanding Covid-19 certificates from employees to access parliament premises; and also stopping all private and public institutions from demanding vaccination certificates from their employees and customers to have access into their premises.”

The statement says CDEDI is the second applicant on the matter, while a concerned citizen, Mr. Mundango Nyirenda, is the first applicant.

“Through lead counsel Oscar Taulo, CDEDI is also applying for a judicial review for the court to decide whether the issues raised above are constitutional or not,” Namiwa says in the CDEDI statement, released Sunday 25 December 2021.

The government-sponsored Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) has also opposed the government’s plan to introduce mandatory Covid-19 vaccination from January 2022, arguing that compulsory jabs violate fundamental human rights.

As of 24 December. 2021, a total of 1,730,888 vaccine doses have been administered in the country so far.

Meanwhile, the co-chairperson of the Presidential Taskforce on Covid-19, Wilfred Chalamira-Nkhoma says about 210 000 Covid-19 doses could expire on New Year’s eve if uptake is still low.