Malawi Law Society (MLS) and individual lawyers have queried the office of the Attorney General (AG) over non-payment or inequitable payment of judgement debts to beneficiaries by the government.
In a communication dated November 18 2024, MLS honorary secretary Gabriel Chembezi has since asked lawyers whose clients have judgement debts against government to provide detailed information.
The information sought includes names of parties to the case and cause number, date when the judgement debt became due and payable, the amount of the debt and steps, if any, taken by the AG’s office towards settlement.
Reads the communication: “Following members’ complaints of non-payment or inequitable payment of judgement debts by the office of the Attorney General, the executive committee, at its meeting held on October 12 2024, and building on the [MLS] president’s remarks on the subject matter at the Sherry Party, resolved to engage the Attorney General on ways of equitably treating judgment creditors against Government.”
In an interview on Tuesday, Chembezi said such information will form the basis of the society’s intervention in its engagement with the AG as such debts constitute expenditure duly charged on the Consolidated Fund under Section 174 of the Constitution.
Commenting on the matter, accountability expert Willy Kambwandira said the speed at which some debts are being paid was worrying and creating suspicions of favouritism.
He said: “The AG must justify the criteria or formula being used in prioritising clearance of these debts. Why should the government prioritise paying a 2023 debt at the expense of a backlog of outstanding debts?
“In the absence of this justification it raises speculation and suspicions that some people within government are benefiting from these settlements. Let there be a debt settlement framework to promote transparency and accountability.”
AG Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda said the judgement debts are in excess of K150 billion and that each debt is being scrutinised and appeals are being made where necessary.
He said: “Inequitable payments? Once I see merit to pay, I write to the Treasury to pay but I have no control over who should be paid or not. It is up to the Treasury to prioritise, so the Treasury is better placed to comment on inequitable payments.
“Almost every day I sign for judgement debts and it is up to the Treasury to pay if funds are available.”
Despite the AG’s assertion that claims are settled on merit, The Nation has established that a K51 million October 2020 judgement debt for parents of 16 pregnant female pupils and the boys responsible is yet to be settled.
The case dates back to April 2016, a primary school in Nkhata Bay suspended the boys. They and their parents appeared before the Nkhata Bay First Grade Magistrate’s Court which ordered them to pay K10 000 each fine while those who failed to pay were imprisoned.
But through lawyer Christon Ghambi, they appealed to the High Court of Malawi in Mzuzu for false imprisonment and in October 2020, Judge Dorothy DeGarbriele awarded them K51 million in compensation and other related costs.
The judge said the arrest, detention and imposition of fines against the learners and their parents was unlawful because it was not done in terms of any recognised law.
Four years later their lawyer Ghambi said yesterday that the money, which amounted to K100 million, was yet to be settled by the State.
Failure to settle such debts, Ghambi said, also affects law firms, as they fail to pay lawyers and staff.
He said it was frustrating that some consents are being honoured while long overdue court judgements are not.
