By Jones Gadama
The High Court has ordered warring factions within the Human Rights Defenders Coalition to sit down and find a lasting solution to the leadership wrangle that has paralyzed the once-powerful civil society body.
In a ruling delivered today, Judge Pemba directed both parties to engage in constructive dialogue within 30 days.
Presiding over the matter involving HRDC and claimants Sammy Aaron and Henderson Mhango, the Judge said the claimants had raised valid and substantive issues that deserve serious consideration.
The Court further ordered that the claimants must be fully involved in all discussions and decision-making aimed at resolving the leadership dispute.
The Court also emphasized that an Annual General Meeting must be part of the engagement agenda, describing it as critical for transparency, accountability and good governance within HRDC.
The crisis began late last year when former Chairperson Gift Trapence resigned and endorsed Michael Kaiyatsa to take over.
Kaiyatsa had served as Vice-Chair alongside Trapence, who himself succeeded founding chair Timothy Mtambo after Mtambo joined frontline politics in 2020.
However, a group calling itself the HRDC Governance Ad Hoc Committee, led by Henderson Mhango, rejected the handover.
They argued there was never an AGM, and that Kaiyatsa’s “provisional governing body” lacked legitimacy under HRDC’s constitution.
After issuing a 14-day ultimatum to call an AGM and stop issuing statements, the group moved to court when nothing happened.
The ruling now puts pressure on HRDC to practice what it preaches.
For an organization that rose to prominence between 2018 and 2020 leading mass protests and demanding accountability from government, questions are mounting: why has it failed to hold a proper leadership election in line with its own constitution?
Critics further allege that HRDC has operated more as a paramilitary wing of the opposition MCP than as an independent watchdog. During the 2019 post-election protests, the coalition was accused of orchestrating road blockades, looting, intimidation of civil servants and police, and chaos that left businesses in Blantyre, Lilongwe andMzuzu counting losses.
With the court giving 30 days for dialogue and an AGM, Malawians will be watching whether HRDC can restore confidence, or whether its credibility as a human rights defender has been permanently dented.
