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Kaphale is new Attorney General

President Peter Mutharika has appointed private practice lawyer Kalekeni Kaphale as the new Attorney General (AG) with immediate effect, replacing Anthony Kamanga who served in the capacity for close to two years.

The Office of the President Cabinet (OPC) announced the appointment yesterday through acting Chief Secretary to the Government Willie Samute.

Kaphale: I'm happy and humbled
Kaphale: I’m happy and humbled

A statement signed by Samute reads in part: “The President of the Republic of Malawi, His Excellency Prof Arthur Peter Mutharika, in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by Section 98 (3) of the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi, has appointed Mr Kalekeni Kaphale as Attorney General. The appointment is with immediate effect.”

Prior to the appointment, Kaphale was the managing partner at Kalekeni Kaphale Lawyers, a private legal firm based in Blantyre. He is also well known for taking up cases involving high-profile individuals in society, including the President’s now discontinued treason case where Kaphale was one of the lead defence lawyers.

Kaphale, alongside new Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Samuel Tembenu, were some of Mutharika’s lawyers when he, with other Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials, was charged with treason in relation to the death of former president Bingu wa Mutharika.

Kaphale, together with deceased veteran lawyer James Tomoka, were appointed interim administrators of the late Bingu’s estate and had represented the family in cases relating to the former president’s wealth, including one in which the office of the Attorney General attempted to turn the family trust into a public trust.

In an interview yesterday, Kaphale said he was happy but humbled as well by the appointment which he said was an enormous task for which he would count on the justice system and colleagues in the Ministry of Justice for support.

On the future of the cases he was handling, among them the administration of the Mutharika estate, Kaphale said he would hand over the cases and the beneficiaries would have to identify a new administrator.

Kaphale has been a lawyer for 23 years and has previously served in the public sector as chief legal counsel for the Malawi Revenue Authority between 1999 and 2002.

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