President and honourarly secretary of Malawi Law Society (MLS), Mwiza Nkhata and Michael Goba Chipeta have resigned from the positions with immediate effect barely four months after being elected to their positions.
Both have cited personal reasons but, Nkhata said the society has set up a transition period with the society’s Vice President Alfred Majamanda taking charge and former treasurer Burton Chigo Mhango doubling as treasurer and acting honourarly Secretary.
Nkhata, an associate professor of law at Chancellor College, said he has notified the society that he will not be available to conduct his duties due to other commitments . He will be leaving the country at the end of June 2018 for a couple of years.
“I have tendered my resignation because I foresee that, shortly, I will not be there to attend to the society’s business. There are personal developments in my life, So it is only fair for the society to choose someone who can be present and attend to the society’s business,” he said.
Goba Chipeta has cited increased workload at his private law firm.
The move is unprecedented in recent years. Nkhata said he was motivated to get the society’s leadership by own sense of civic duty to the profession, firstly, and to the country at large.
“The profession belongs to its members, first and foremost, so members must always be willing to take up leadership positions but crucially, the society owes the larger public several key responsibilities which necessarily requires that the society must constantly choose from among its midst individuals who can help it fulfill its broader societal obligations,” he is on record saying.
Committee members are Tadala Peggy Chinkwezule, Martha Etta Kaukonde and Chipiliro Chitsonga.
