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| National |
| Appoint attorney general, Bingu urged |
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by
Mc Donald Chapalapata, 19 August 2004
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09:22:22
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The Malawi Law Society (MLS) has asked President Bingu wa Mutharika to be ‘reasonable’ and appoint an Attorney General as soon as possible, saying it is not clear who is advising government on legal matters.
MLS Secretary Linda Ziyendam’manja said on Wednesday although the Constitution does not give a time limit within which he can appoint an Attorney General, the President should do so immediately.
“It is now three months without an Attorney General. We ask the President to consider what is reasonable. This situation is saddening to us as a society because we know the relevance of having an Attorney General and we ask the President to appoint a new Attorney General as soon as possible,” said Ziyendam’manja.
MLS first made the call for the appointment of a new Attorney General last month but there has not been any announcement from State House on who is going to take up the post.
Ziyendam’manja said the Constitution provides that only the Attorney General can advise government on legal matters and even the National Assembly.
She said if Mutharika appointed an Attorney General, government would have been spared some legal suits currently in court because it could have avoided making some decisions.
Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Bright Msaka said on Wednesday he was not aware when the President would appoint a new Attorney General, adding that “those are matters within the exclusive domain of the head of state”.
Asked on who is providing legal advice to the President and government in the absence of the Attorney General, Msaka said: “We have a whole ministry full of lawyers, including the minister who is also a lawyer.”
But Ziyendam’manja said no one can give legal advice to government without instructions of the Attorney General.
Meanwhile, close sources confided in Nation Online that the president has asked for more CVs to be considered for the appointment of the Attorney General.
The President is said to have asked for the CVs of two High Court Judges Justices Frank Kapanda and Lovemore Chikopa and former deputy director for the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Alexious Nampota.
Msaka said he was not aware that the President had asked for the CVs of the three.
Nampota and Kapanda also said in separate interviews that they were not aware that the President called for their CVs.
The President is said to have initially appointed private legal practitioner Ralph Kasambara to fill in the vacant post of Attorney General following their meeting at Sanjika Palace on July 25.
According to the Constitution, the Attorney General is the Principal Legal Adviser to the government and can institute legal proceedings on behalf of government against anyone or defend government or any government department in any legal suit.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is restricted to criminal prosecutions while the Solicitor General is the principal secretary for the Ministry of Justice, according to Ziyendam’manja.
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