President Lazarus Chakwera may have flouted the law in conferring Senior Counsel (SC) honour on 13 lawyers using a cumulative approach instead of the prescribed three recipients per year, a seasoned legal mind has opined.
In an interview on Thursday, Justice Link executive director Justin Dzonzi observed that the statutes do not permit a cumulative approach.
He said: “If there was a problem in appointment in previous years, it is not right to make up for what was not done by taking this cumulative approach.
“Government could have first amended the law to be allowing to accommodate for years the appointment was not done, but doing it the way it has been done is wrong.”
Section 54 of the Legal Education and Legal Practitioners Act (2018) provides that where the President is conferring the honour of SC, the number of awardees should “not exceed three [3] legal practitioners during one [1] calendar year”.
However, in May this year, Chakwera awarded 13 legal practitioners, including two honoured posthumously.
On Thursday, the President formally presented the honours at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe to veteran prosecutor Kamudoni Nyasulu, Ralph Mhone, Maziko Sauti Phiri, James Masumbu, Innocentia Ottober and Emily Makuta alongside Solicitor General and Secretary for Justice Allison M’bang’ombe.
Minister of Justice Titus Mvalo, Pempho Likongwe, Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda, Marshall Chilenga, Garton Kainja (posthumously) and Alex Nampota (posthumously) completed the list.
During the ceremony, Secretary to the President and Cabinet (SPC) Colleen Zamba said the President approved the conferment of the 13 lawyers based on recommendations from the Honours Committee.
“Three for the year 2019, three for the year 2020, three for the year 2021, three for the year 2022 and one under Section 55,” she said, perhaps acknowledging the potential legal pitfall.
Malawi Law Society (MLS) president Davis Njobvu declined to comment on the issue, saying MLS is part of the Honours Committee.
The committee, under MLS, comprises the Chief Justice as chairperson, the Attorney General and the Solicitor General as secretary with MLS chairperson, two SCs nominated by MLS and a dean of law at an accredited university appointed by the council as members.
In his address on Thursday, Chakwera declared that Malawi’s progress will not be achieved by money, power, prayers or foreign donors, but through the loyalty of citizens devoted to their country.
He said he utilised the three attributes of loyalty, integrity and ability when appointing the 13 legal professionals.
Said Chakwera: “In short, to me, integrity means never cutting corners where corners are not meant to be cut, never taking short cuts where such cuts are meant to be unacceptable.
“If we continue to be a nation where we each excuse ourselves to cut corners, then there is no amount of money, power and prayer that is going to develop our nation.”
According to the law, any lawyer of “irreproachable character” can apply to the AG for consideration for this honour if they have practised either in private or public for up to 15 years and have made significant contribution to the development of the law in the country.
