Attorney General worries for Malawi govt purse  

The country’s Attorney General (AG), Kalekeni Kaphale is applying all dark art antics of law just to stop execution of court judgments favoring government’s creditors as he fears such verdicts might have far reaching impact on the public purse.

There are numerous judgments creditors have obtained against government which have not been honored as the AG’s office is busy toasting them around through never ending appeals.

One of exemplary cases is the U$1 140 515.00 (about K838 million) debt Malawi Prison Services owes South Africa-based, Universal Kit Suppliers which supplied uniforms to the service. The AG’s office is busy trying to delay execution of the judgment and lost an appeal once.

The country’s top lawyer while admitting about his fears, said allowing execution of such court determinations would entail enormous strain on the public purse and issuing of payments that have not been budgeted for.

Kaphale registered his fears in an appeal he filed on behalf of Malawi Prison Service to stop the execution of the High Court order that demanded Sheriffs of Malawi to seize the service’s properties for failing to pay Universal Kit Suppliers.

In his affidavit, Kaphale’s office noted that government was against the proposition to enforce the court judgments by way of execution as that would have far reaching effects on the public purse and was going to open floodgates of numerous litigations who were going to apply for execution of judgments against government.

Kaphale admitted that there were numerous judgments against government which have not been paid or are in the process of getting paid, and feared that executing them would have enormous strain on the public purse and issuing of payments not budgeted for.

But Supreme Court of Appeal Judge, Justice Lovemore Chikopa observed that the AG was not worried about execution but what effect that process would have on other government’s creditors.

“We doubt though whether we should sit here and be talking about government creditors who might execute. Whether such prospective creditors might have the financial wherewithal to repay in case their execution are flawed. What if they decided not to?

“Would their financial positions be of any consequence to us? We doubt. Would our busying with them be of any use? Again we doubt. Courts only deal with matters. Matters that are before them,” Chikopa said in one of his rulings against AG’s appeals.

Chikopa said the concerns the AG raised, if truth was to be told, were irrelevant considerations.

Government owes numerous creditors as it continues to struggle in quest to meet national budgets in absence of foreign aid from donor countries.

Donors pulled out their direct support to the country’s national budgets due to continued plunder of public funds through systematic approach dubbed as Cashgate in which government agents and private individuals/companies connive to defraud tax-payers.

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