Attorney General Jane Ansah of Malawi

Attorney General Jane Ansah has advised President Bingu wa Mutharika to either replace Acting Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) Director Tumalisye Ndovi or retain him with some conditions.

Attorney General Jane Ansah has written Speaker of the National Assembly Louis Chimango, telling him he cannot declare vacant seats of MPs affected by Section 65 because discontinuance or withdrawal of an injunction by a petitioner serves as mere notice and is not a court order.

The opinion by Ansah says a clear reading of Order 21 of the rules of the Supreme Court shows that discontinuance or withdrawal only applies to withdrawal of proceedings with or without leave of the court.

Ansah says much as notices of discontinuance in the Yunus Mussa, exparte Brown Mpinganjira and in exparte Anderson Steppe cases seek to withdraw the proceedings, they are legally valid but not in respect of discharging the injunctions.

Malawians themselves if they wanted.

A hearing on the case has been postponed until next Friday (October 27, 2006) so Attorney General Jane Ansah has time to consult with the Ministry of Gender, Child Welfare and Community Services (Ministry of Gender…that’s a new one.

But Attorney General (AG) Jane Ansah said in an interview Monday that what Malawi has is a law that could be changed by Malawians themselves if they wanted.

Attorney General Jane Ansah said she saw the letter Sata wrote to government seeking an explanation for being denied entry into Malawi but had not yet studied the court documents.