Gbenro Adesina
Malawi’s prominent lawyer, Mordecai Msiska, has turned down a ministerial position offered to him by the country’s new President, Dr Lazarus Chakwera.
On June 29, 2020, the new President had announced a maiden cabinet which included Mordecai Msiska, as Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
According to Msiska, who was Chakwera’s lead counsel in the 2019 presidential election case, accepting the post would appear as a reward for his success in the case at the Constitutional Court which threw out the results of the May 2019 election of which former President Peter Mutharika was initially declared the winner.
He advised that a younger lawyer should be considered for the post who would perform optimally.
Msiska said,“Well, it is true that I advised that I could not take up the appointment for personal reasons. These personal reasons have to do with just a matter of certain precedents and obligations that I have. I have obligations to my members of staff, for instance, in the law firm that I run and I could not walk away from those obligations.
“And importantly, I did feel that having been lead counsel in the elections case, acting as a lead counsel for the President, my getting into the administration, and particularly the ministry of justice would unduly affect the processes that government system has to address”.
