The government of Malawi appears to have something up the sleeve. Some policy decisions that have lately caused public discontent are speedily being reversed.

Ironically, this is happening while the president, Professor Bingu wa Mutharika, is away on an unexplained holiday.

Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Mr. Ephraim Chiume has disclosed to Zodiak Online that all the newly formulated laws that have caused controversy among Malawians will be referred back to the Malawi Law Commission for review and further public consultation.

Mr. Chiume was speaking in an interview with Zodiak Onlike in Lilongwe on Monday, November 8 on the sidelines of an International Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Association of Law Reform Agencies of East and South Africa (ALRAESA).

This is the first confirmation from a high ranking government official since civil society groups started protesting against the laws passed at the last sitting of parliament mid this year.

Some of the laws have already been assented to by the head of state.

The minister was reacting to a question by Zodiak Online on whether the laws would be tabled for repeal in the sitting of parliament expected to start on November 14.

Among the controversial laws are civil procedures amendment act, commonly known as the injunctions bill, which prevents individuals or groups of people from taking an injunction against the state in its absence.

Amendment of Section 46 and 35 of the Penal Code which are being deemed as restrictive on media rights has also raised concerns among civil society in Malawi and media organizations.

The amendment empowers a minister to close down a newspaper or any publication whose products are being seen as not in the interest of the public.

Mr. Chiume says government enacts laws for the benefit of the citizenry and where there is discontent, it will refer back such legislation to the law commission.

“Any responsible government where its sees that, may be its citizens are not akin to some laws which are there, you always want to find a way of addressing those challenges so that everybody is kept in the look in the loop,” said the minister.

He said government will embark on a massive public awareness campaign for Malawians to understand the nitty-gritty’s of some of the laws being seen as negative.

According to the minister, it would not be fair to Malawians for parliament to discuss the way forward on the controversial laws on behalf of all the citizenry but rather conduct a thorough public consultation process.

“I’m not sure that we are going to justice by taking these laws back to parliament now because what we are rely looking at is having wide consultation. All the views of Malawians must be captured, as whether we can do that within the next one week, I have a lot of doubts.

“But we’ll see how the parliament schedule goes, but definitely we’ll send most of these laws back to the Law Commission so that they can have a look at them…have wide consultations. On our part as government we will also engage in public relations and awareness exercise so that everyone is on the same page in this country,” he said.

The disclosure by the minister comes a few days after the UN-facilitated Malawi National Dialogue Group recommended that the controversial laws be suspended to pave way for review.

The group involving state and civil society representatives is discussing the economic and governance concerns rocking the country.

Meanwhile the ALRAES Conference and Annual General Meeting in Lilongwe will centre on the role of constitutional review in the improvement of democratic governance in east and Southern Africa.

According to chairperson of the grouping Shacky Shanghalala, the meeting will discuss electoral laws, for example, the issue of first-pass-the- post and proportional representation in electoral processes.

The Botswana Chief Law Reform Officer said the region needs to have a uniform document that will act a guiding tool for best modern legislation.—Zodiak Online