The High Court Civil Division in Lilongwe has dismissed, with costs, an application by the government to stay execution of an earlier ruling quashing a decision by the Chief Secretary to the Government, Justin Saidi, to redeploy five senior Malawi Defence Force (MDF) officers to the civil service.
In his decision on April 13 2026, judge Kenyatta Nyirenda agreed with Allan Chinula, Senior Counsel (SC), lawyer for the MDF officers, that the application to stay the ruling lacked merit. He said the application failed to show risks of the appeal being stifled and was contradictory.
The ruling reads in part: “All in all, the application by the defendant for an order staying the proceeding herein pending the hearing and determination of an appeal by the defendant against my judgment lacks merit. Accordingly, the application is dismissed.”
Nyirenda then slammed the government, represented by Attorney General (AG) Frank Mbeta, saying an order made by a court of unlimited jurisdiction such as the High Court must be obeyed unless and until it has been set aside.
In his argument, Chinula said, the AG in his sworn statement misrepresented the fact that the officers reported back to their offices as at no point after the court’s stay order of November 2025 and the court’s ruling on February 12, did the MDF call or advise the officers on how they would be deployed within its ranks.
Added Nyirenda: “By acting in defiance of the court order, the applicant has acted in bad faith with respect to the application—that is, with [unclean hands]. The doctrine is often stated as [those seeking equity must do equity] or [equity must come with clean hands],” further stating that he had difficulties understanding how he would grant such a remedy.
He added: “How do you disobey a court order and then expect to be helped by the court? In fact, if the court were to make the mistake of granting the present application, it would send a very wrong message.”
Reacting to the ruling, Mbeta said they are applying before the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal to stay the High Court’s earlier ruling on the matter.
On February 12, Justice Nyirenda quashed a decision by Saidi to redeploy the five senior MDF officers to the civil service, describing the move as illegal and unconstitutional.
Government later filed an application in the Supreme Court to overturn the decision and made a separate application in the High Court to stay its ruling, pending determination of appeal.
The officers are Major Generals Chikunkha Soko, Saiford Kalisha, Swithan Mchungula and Kakhuta Banda, as well as Brigadier General Harold Dzoole.
They had been assigned as directors of security at the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi, National Oil Company of Malawi, Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation and Electricity Generation Company, respectively.
