Court orders Malawi's ex-leader to cover legal fees

By Peter Jegwa

Malawi's High Court has ordered former President Peter Mutharika and former Chief Secretary to Government, Lloyd Muhura, to personally pay the entire cost of litigation after they were found to have violated the constitution when they attempted to remove the head of the judiciary from office.

Before he lost in June’s re-run presidential election, Mr Mutharika ordered that Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda and another judge should go on leave pending retirement.

The directive was signed by Mr Muhura.

Several groups including the influential Malawi Law Society and the Association of Magistrates said Mr Mutharika’s decision amounted to interference with judicial independence. 

Although Mr Mutharika later withdrew the directive, the matter was taken to court for a judicial review where it was ruled that the former president and Mr Muhura had violated their constitutional mandate.

The Malawi Law Society further asked the court to order that the two of them personally pay all costs of litigation leading to Friday's ruling.

The court found that Mr Mutharika and Mr Muhara had acted "defiantly, were unreasonable, were not prudent and acted outside their constitutional mandate".

The presiding judge ordered the registrar of the High Court to work out the amount the two will have to pay which some commentators say will be in the tens of thousands of US dollars.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

Photo: AFP