Malawi Law Society (MLS) has described private practice lawyer Mayer Chisanga’s death as a blow to the legal fraternity, saying his gap will be hard to fill.
MLS honorary secretary Martha Kaukonde, in an email response yesterday, said the late Chisanga, a Senior Counsel (SC), was a great man who was committed to the rule of law and justice in his lifetime.
According to Kaukonde, Chisanga was a committed member of MLS who played numerous critical roles and at the time of his death, he was chairperson and member of the Remuneration Committee established under the Legal Education and Legal Practitioners Act of 2017.
He was elected to the position during the MLS annual general meeting held in February this year.
Said Kaukonde: “So you can imagine our level of loss, pain and regret. He was a very experienced and seasoned lawyer who loved the law practice immensely, knew the art of advocacy without compromising ethical standards even at a time when it proved to be challenging to do so.
“He also inspired the Judiciary with his ethical standards, hard work and intelligent contributions to the development of law.”
According to Kaukonde, in terms of clients’ interests, the Code of Ethics has provisions that safeguard the interests of clients when a practitioner dies therefore MLS will ensure that all affairs of the late Chisanga are handled in the best interest of all parties.
Writing on his Facebook page, lawyer Ralph Kasambara described Chisanga as a leading trial advocate in insurance law, personal injuries and road traffic accident cases.
He wrote: “Not only did he train us as lawyers; he also made every effort to groom us as gentlemen… Any failure on our part as gentlemen is surely not of his making.”
Apart from being a seasoned lawyer and devoted Christian of St Columba CCAP church, he was also a board of trustees member for Chilema Ecumenical Training and Conference Centre in Zomba.
A tentative funeral programme shows the body of Chisanga will be laid to rest tomorrow at Maone Village, Traditional Authority Nkalo in Chiradzulu District.
Chisanga, who was admitted to the bar on August 8 1988, died on Monday evening at Adventist Hospital in Blantyre, aged 59. He was born on August 1 1959.
He is survived by a wife, Seluby, and four children. A vigil is being held at his house in New Naperi.
