Namalomba wants to abuse the court—AG
Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda has asked the High Court of Malawi to dismiss the case filed by legislator Shadreck Namalomba on regulating some opposition business in Parliament, saying it is abuse of court.
During the court hearing in Zomba yesterday, the AG objected to the application, including the request for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to join the case as friends of court, saying it is abuse of the court process.
Nyirenda also said the matter in question was internal to the opposition DPP and required a political solution.
He said: “The idea by the applicant is purely aiming at delaying the case and the application for the DPP as a party to join the case as a friend of the court is total abuse of the court process.”
Namalomba, who is Mangochi South West legislator, obtained a court injunction stopping Leader of Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa from making any decision without consulting DPP. The order also compelled Speaker of Parliament Catherine Gotani Hara to only accept communication from Nankhumwa, in his capacity as Leader of Opposition in Parliament, upon seeing proof of consultation from his party.
When the case came for hearing before presiding Judge Mzondi Mvula, lawyers representing Namalomba, Ahmad Mussa and Gonjetso Dikia, asked the court to allow Hara to be cross-examined.
They also asked that DPP, which is an interested party, be part of the case as friends of the court.
Mvula said the court will meet on April 7 2022 to make a ruling on the preliminary objections.
Namalomba’s injunction, served to the Speaker through the AG’s office, stirred debate and some legal minds, including the AG, described it as an infringement of the principle of separation of powers.
The AG argued that the order infringed parliamentary privilege contrary to the provision of Section 26 of the National Assembly (Powers and Privileges) Act which states that neither the Speaker nor any officer of the National Assembly shall be subject to the jurisdiction of any court in respect of the exercise of any power conferred on or vested in the Speaker or such officer by or under the Act.
