APM, Muhara face K68m legal bill
Former president Peter Mutharika and former chief secretary to the government Lloyd Muhara face a K68 million bill for their role in the alleged plot to remove Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda and another judge.
In a party and party costs document filed in the High Court of Malawi on December 12 2020 on their behalf by lawyers Bright Theu and Khumbo Bonzoe Soko, Human Right Defenders Coalition (HRDC) and Association of Magistrates in Malawi want Mutharika and Muhara to pay the costs following an earlier court ruling faulting their decision.
Reads the submission for costs in part: “The claimant’s case called upon counsel to exercise a lot of care in the conduct of the prosecution.
“Council took great care in the conduct of the prosecution and perused a lot of documents and read a lot of authorities to ensure that the facts were properly understood and proper case authorities
selected and court documents were drafted in simple and clear manner. In the end the claimant’s case was carefully prosecuted in a manner that reduced costs of the litigation of Part 1.”
The lawyers said the costs include instruction fee pegged at K30 million, hourly rate of both Soko and Theu at K100 000, travelling time at K50 000 per 30 minutes, waiting time at K25 000 every 15 minutes and general care and conduct at K11.6 million.
In an interview yesterday Soko confirmed that their clients, HRDC and the Association of Magistrates in Malawi as petitioners, want Mutharika and Muhara to pay them about K68 million.
He said: “We served them [Mutharika and Muhara’s lawyers] on 14th December and the case is entering [assessment of cost] on 25th January 2020.”
In a separate interview, one
of the lawyers representing Mutharika and Muhara, Mwayi Banda, confirmed being served with the court cost documents.
He said they have received an instruction to apply for an order to put aside execution of order for costs.
Said Banda: “We haven’t yet [applied for a stay], but we may. Which means if a court grants, the assessment will not proceed until the appeal is heard. But if the court doesn’t, then the assessment of costs will proceed.”
On November 20 2020, newly appointed Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal Justice Charles Mkandawire, while winding up the case he was presiding over as a High Court judge, ordered Mutharika and Muhara to pay costs incurred in the case where they were found guilty of forcing the Chief Justice and Justice of Appeal Edward Twea to proceed on leave in June this year, pending retirement next year.
In his judgement, Mkandawire faulted Mutharika and Muhara for interfering with the independence of the Judiciary.
On June 12 2020, Muhara issued a public notice that the Chief Justice and Twea should proceed on leave to clear his days pending retirement, a development that angered HRDC, Association of Magistrates in Malawi and lawyers who later held demonstrations protesting the decision as infringement of the doctrine of separation of powers
