Ministries, departments to have own lawyers

Malawi Government is considering allocating lawyers as desk officers to ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to help controlling officers in decision-making on legal matters, Attorney General (AG) Kalekeni Kaphale has said.

In an interview last week, Kaphale said: “We are toying around with the idea, which is yet to be finalised. We would like to deploy lawyers who will help controlling officers in government departments in their decision-making, especially in terms of legal processes.”

According to Kaphale, there is a gap in legal knowledge by key decision makers in MDAs.He said his office would like to train decision makers in how to make lawful decisions.

“My office would like to study challenges, legal problems that the country has, so that we can plan ahead and avoid them,” he said.

Government is losing billions of taxpayers’ money annually due to compensations stemming from unlawful decisions such as dismissals and general negligence, resources of which could be used to buy drugs for hospitals or even teaching and learning materials for the country’s schools.

In the 2013/14 budget alone, government spent K10 billion in compensations, according to Treasury spokesperson Nations Msowoya.

When asked where the lawyers for deployment to MDAs would come from, Kaphale said Malawi has many lawyers who do not need to work in one place to make a difference.

Commentators have since welcomed the AG’s proposal, saying this could help avert unlawful decisions by controlling officers.

Malawi Law Society (MLS) president Mandala Mambulasa said in an interview last week that the move will help save government resources.

“The idea of putting lawyers in different government departments will help minimise lawsuits and huge compensations, which currently are affecting the country’s budget,” he said.

Malawian law expert based at University of Cape Town in South Africa, Professor Danwood Chirwa, also supported the move in a separate interview, saying it will help improve decision making, especially on legal matters in government.

“It is a good idea taking into consideration that it will help line ministries to avoid lawsuits. We have seen government paying huge sums of money in court settlements and compensations for contractual obligations,” he said.

But commentator Alick Nyasulu wondered where the AG would get the lawyers to deploy in ministries and departments.

According to Nyasulu, Malawi has few lawyers, which has seen cases involving government stalling.