Former AGs join State in thin plastics fight
Two former attorneys general (AGs) Kalekeni Kaphale and Chikosa Silungwe have joined the State legal team in the thin plastics case on pro-bono basis.
In a statement yesterday, Ministry of Justice said the two senior counsels will work with the State team “to forcefully fight” a fresh injunction that 11 companies obtained last week stopping Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change from implementing a ban on thin plastics.
Reads the statement in part: “Senior Counsel Kaphale confirmed making the pro-bono offer to join the State team alongside Dr. Silungwe and University of Malawi’s Environmental Justice and Sustainability Clinic.”
The statement added that Kaphale has called some interested parties to come forward to challenge the companies.
He is quoted as having said: “That is not all. We are also trying to mobilise other interested parties from other universities to join us and the door is also open to non-governmental organisations that focus on environment.
“We made this decision as citizens of Malawi that care for our environment. We have to live in a better environment and leave an environment that is good for our children and future generations.”
AG Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda yesterday confirmed receiving the offer from his senior colleagues and said he was grateful for the gesture.
“These are true patriots offering their priceless services for free to save this nation from serious environmental damage the thin plastics may cause. I am excited to have their expertise and to help us rescue Malawi,” he said.
M e a n w h i l e , environmental protection activists have welcomed the involvement of the two lawyers, saying it will beef up the State team.
During a press conference in Lilongwe, the activists, namely Julius N’goma of Civil Society Organisation on Nutrition Alliance, Herbert Mwalukomo of Centre for Environmental Policy and Advocacy, Dorothy Tembo from the Lilongwe Wildlife Trust and Mathews Malata said producers of thin plastics should be stopped from manufacturing the product in the country to protect the environment.
About 30 CSOs signed a statement which was read during the briefing calling on Malawians to boycott the use of thin plastics.
Besides the boycott, the CSOs are also demanding that Malawi Environment Protection Authority, through the AG, should fight to vacate the injunction.
The 11 companies last week asked the High Court of Malawi in Lilongwe to refer the matter to the Chief Justice for certification as a constitutional matter as they seek to challenge the constitutionality of the Environment, Management (Plastics) Regulations of 2015 designed to protect the environment.
In the matter, the Minister of Natural Resources and Climate Change is the first defendant while the AG is the second defendant.
The recent order came after another plastic manufacturer, Golden Plastics Limited, withdrew its appeal filed in the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal against enforcement of the ban on single-use thin plastics.
The case started in 2021 when the High Court in Lilongwe vacated an injunction prohibiting enforcement of the ban against manufacturing, distribution, sale, exportation and importation of thin plastic bags of less than 60 microns.
However, Mepa applied to have the stay order vacated, but hearing of the application was adjourned several times until April this year when the case resumed.
In June, Chief Justice Rizine Mzikamanda dismissed an application by Golden Plastics to extend the order when parties to the case appeared before him.
