A High Court in Malawi’s capital Lilongwe has dismissed an application by a civil society group aimed at stopping the government from implementing mandatory COVID-19 vaccines. Lawyer Oscar Taulo, representing the Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI), and freelance journalist Mundango Nyirenda, who brought the case to court, said they might now take the case to the Supreme Court.
RFI reports Attorney-General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda as saying the case was thrown out because Health Minister Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda’s announcement about mandatory vaccines for frontline staff was an intention, not a requirement. “You can’t sue based on intention,” said Nyirenda. “We don’t have policy on mandatory vaccination because for that to be effective, there has to be a process,” he added.
That apparently wasn’t the case in December, when both CDEDI and Nyirenda filed their application after Chiponda announced the government's intended compulsory vaccine policy. CDEDI executive director Sylvester Namiwa and Nyirenda also made an application to prevent private and public institutions from demanding COVID-19 certificates from employees and customers. The Malawi Human Rights Commission had also opposed the government’s plan to introduce mandatory vaccines, saying compulsory jabs violated fundamental human rights.
RFI article – Malawi court dismisses challenge against mandatory Covid vaccination (Open access)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Suicide levels in Malawi and Kenya rocket as pandemic bites
Africa CDC says stringent lockdown no longer a tool to contain COVID-19
Substantial degree of vaccine hesitancy in Africa and its diaspora — UCT study
Africa now has the shots but is struggling to administer them
Zimbabwe’s ban on unvaccinated workers raises ire