Joint committees case November 5, AG joins

High Court of Malawi Judge Allan Hans Muhome has adjourned to November 5 2026 the judicial review case on the legality of 12 joint parliamentary committees to probe public sector governance lapses.

The judge set the date during a virtual hearing yesterday after parties and friends of the court differed on timelines as defendants, the Speaker of the National Assembly Sameer Suleman and Parliament of Malawi pushed for expedition of the case.

Prior to the start of hearing, Attorney General (AG) Frank Mbeta, who on Wednesday applied to join the case as an interested party, had also asked for adjournment and a 10-day window to respond to all submissions while the applicant Austin Mkoka, through his lawyer Noel Supedi, sought seven days to respond.

Has joined the case:

Mbeta. | Nation

However, lawyer for the Speaker and Parliament Bright Theu said since the matter needed to be expedited, it would be prudent that the AG and the applicant be given fewer days.

He said: “We must be allowed to stay within the timeline of expedition, considering what the Speaker said these committees were expected to finalise their work by the time Parliament meets in November.

“The AG should be allowed seven days and the claimant should be allowed two days to respond. The AG is joining as an interested party and we are defending. Ideally, we should be allowed to respond. We may respond to the AG but we may not have the time to respond to the claimant.”

But Mbeta counter-argued, saying the 10 days he sought will not stop the matter from being expedited.

Earlier during the hearing, Malawi Law Society (MLS), which joined the case as a friend of the court and was represented by private practice lawyer Chikosa Silungwe and MLS president Davis Njobvu argued that the court should not compromise the timelines in the applications for dates to respond.

Silungwe told the court that timelines are already known under court procedure law.

“We may want to adhere to timelines. The AG wants 10 days, the claimant wants seven days. I do not think that is per procedure. There must be a special reason to expand timelines. But that does not stop the court from deciding,” he said.

Theu had earlier questioned why the AG, who he described as a stranger to the case, was seeking adjournment before anyone could be heard.

In response, Muhome said the court received Mbeta’s request on Wednesday and that “processes on that application were underway”.

Meanwhile, another interested party Jones Chadza has also joined the case and is being represented by lawyer Audrey Tolani.

Mkoka filed an urgent judicial review application against Suleman and Parliament, asking the court to determine whether the Legislature has constitutional authority to establish the committees and conduct investigations.

In a statement dated September 10 2026, Chief Secretary to the Government Justin Saidi said that while the Executive arm of government respects the doctrine of separation of powers, the authority to establish parliamentary committees’ rests with Parliament and cannot be exercised unilaterally by the Speaker.

The tensions followed the Speaker’s announcement to investigate alleged governance concerns through joint committees. The issues set for probe involved Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services, Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi, Electricity Generation Company, Power Market Limited, Blantyre Water Board and National Oil Company of Malawi, among other government institutions.

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