By Wezzie Gausi:
Attorney General (AG) Frank Mbeta has asked the Supreme Court of Appeal to stay the implementation of a High Court judgement that nullified the Secretary to the President and Cabinet (SPC) Justin Saidi’s decision to redeploy five senior Malawi Defence Force (MDF) generals to the civil service.
The application comes after the High Court dismissed the government’s bid to suspend the judgement pending an appeal, dealing another setback to the State in the long-running dispute over the redeployment of the senior military officers.
Speaking in an interview on Wednesday, Mbeta confirmed that the matter would be heard by the Supreme Court of Appeal on Thursday and said he would personally appear to defend the government’s position.
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“I will be appearing before the Supreme Court of Appeal tomorrow to defend the case. We maintain that the Secretary to the President and Cabinet was not wrong in making that decision, and that is the position we will be advancing before the court,” Mbeta said.
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In court documents filed before the Supreme Court of Appeal, Mbeta argues that the government has already appealed against the High Court ruling and wants the appellate court to stay the decision while the appeal is being determined.
The AG maintains that Saidi acted within the law when he redeployed the officers and that the legality of that decision should be determined by the country’s highest court before the High Court judgement is enforced.
“The government has appealed against the judgement and seeks an order staying its execution pending the hearing and determination of the appeal,” Mbeta argues in the application.
The dispute stems from a decision by the SPC to redeploy five senior MDF generals to the civil service.
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The officers challenged the move through judicial review proceedings, arguing that the decision was unlawful.
Earlier this year, the High Court ruled in favour of the generals and quashed the SPC’s decision.
The government later sought to stay that judgement pending an appeal but Judge Kenyatta Nyirenda dismissed the application, saying it lacked merit and failed to demonstrate that refusing a stay would render the appeal useless.
