A Malawi Law Society (MLS) legal clinic in Thyolo has exposed high cases of gender-based violence (GBV) and land disputes in the district.
During the clinic at Nagwengwere Community Day Secondary School in Thyolo on Sunday, MLS executive member Burton Mhango said the society, with support from Women and Law in Southern Africa (Wlsa) and Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (Osisa), is running legal clinics to reach individuals that cannot afford hiring lawyers.
He said: “We launched the project in March. Today, we came here to give the villagers an opportunity to meet lawyers for free and share issues which they think need legal support.”
Mhango said despite interventions by various organisations, MLS observed that there are still many cases of GBV and land wrangles in the district.
Mhango, who was accompanied by six other lawyers, said they will look at each case and decide on which ones to take to court.
Group village head Khwetemule hailed MLS for the project.
“The coming in of MLS is timely because we still have many marriage-related disputes and I am sure their intervention will help many individuals that could not take their cases to courts,” said the chief.
