DCs transfer case adjourned to Friday
The High Court of Malawi has adjourned to Friday a case in which the Malawi Local Government Association (Malga) is seeking a judicial review on the decision to transfer some district commissioners (DC).
The case came up for hearing in Blantyre on Tuesday, but Malga through its lawyer Davis Njobvu sought directions from the court following an application by Attorney General Thabo Chakaka- Nyirenda for a discharge of leave for the judicial review.
In his application filed last week, Nyirenda argued that Malga is not an interested party in the matter because the issue only involves the DCs and not Malga as an association.
He said: “When you come to court you need to show that the harm has been occasioned to you, you also need to show interest. But in this particular case, the affected DCs have not come to court. Instead, it is an association that has nothing to do with the promotion of the rights of the DCs.
“So, we are saying they don’t have a locus standi and that the government should be free to transfer its employees to any department.”
In a separate interview, Njobvu said they received an application from the Attorney General last week and managed to file documents in response to the arguments raised.
He said: “We have brought the documents to show that our client is registered. We have also argued that our client does have the sufficient interest on the matter because it is an association of local government authorities.
“If a DC is head of administration at a district council in local government, the question is, can the Office of the President and Cabinet [OPC] just wake up and transfer the DCs?
“We feel like the councils have the right to be consulted. This issue is not just about the employment of DCs, it’s about recognition of rights of an arm of government and it is provided under the constitution.”
Presiding Judge Jean Kaira has since adjourned the matter to Friday to give time to both parties to submit their arguments on the matter.
On September 29, 2022, Malga took the government to court arguing that the decision by OPC to redeploy about 10 DCs and two chief executive officers to central government is unlawful.
