I am the Director of the Malawi Legal Aid Bureau (Bureau), a national public institution established under the Legal Aid Act of 2011 with the mandate to provide legal aid services to persons of insufficient means. I joined the Bureau in 2011 as a Senior Legal Aid Advocate and rose through the ranks to the position of Chief Legal Aid Advocate, Assistant Director, Deputy Director, Acting Director, and subsequently, Director. I am a legal practitioner by profession, and I have practised the law for over 14 years in diverse criminal and civil matters in the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal, High Court, and all courts subordinate thereto as well as in tribunals. As the Director, I am overall in charge of the Bureau, providing overall legal and administrative leadership for the institution, and managing 229 officers and 22 offices in 21 districts across Malawi. In line with the mandate of the Bureau, I provide legal aid through legal representation, legal advice, legal assistance, and civic education and information about the law. I am admitted to the roster of Counsel entitled to practice and provide legal aid in the African Court of Human and Peoples Rights. Furthermore, I am a 2017 Cornell University trained capital defence Makwanyane fellow; a 2022 International Visitor Leadership Program on the US Judicial System and Rule of Law alumnus; a 2023 Victor Dankwa Prize recipient for mastery of the African Human Rights System; and a 2019 World Justice Challenge alumnus, having participated in the World Justice Challenge competition and won the Bureau and its stakeholders one of the five prizes, out of 250 competitors world-wide, for ensuring access to justice for all. Between 2017 and 2024, I received invitations and participated in workshops in Tanzania, Kenya, and Malaysia to share my experience and insights with advocates, judges, and other stakeholders on how the countries could conduct resentencing of former death-row inmates in line with international human rights standards. This followed my extensive litigation, contribution, and expertise in a similar initiative in Malawi, christened the ‘Kafantayeni Resentencing Project’, wherein over 160 people who were sentenced to the unconstitutional mandatory death penalty were afforded a chance of resentencing and were saved from death penalties.
I hold a Master of Laws in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa (with distinction) from the University of Pretoria, and a Bachelor of Laws (Honours, with credit) from the University of Malawi. I also hold various certificates in diverse areas such as in Promoting and Protecting Human Rights; Right to Development in Africa; Judicial Enforcement of Socio-Economic Rights in Africa; African Human Rights System in Comparative Perspectives; Women’s Rights; Disability Rights; Indigenous Peoples’ Rights; Strategic Litigation, Legal Defence and Advocacy; International Visitor Leadership Program on the Rule of Law and the United States Judicial System; Ending Statelessness; Trial Advocacy; Capital Defence; and Leadership, Management and Performance Management.
During my LLM studies at the Centre for Human Rights (University of Pretoria) and the Ismail Mahomed Centre for Human and Peoples’ Rights (University of Venda) in South Africa in 2023, I conducted legal research, participated in the development of a concept note for a conference on children’s rights and climatic justice; reviewed journal articles; developed promotional materials for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ismael Mahomed Centre on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC); supported the Ismael Mahomed Centre on Human and Peoples’ Rights to host a conference on ‘Global Biodiversity Framework Target 5 Implementation and Sustainable Use of Wildlife and Rights of Indigenous People and Local Communities (IPLC)’; developed and made a presentation on the theme ‘The Perception of Voters in Electoral Democracy and Recommendations to IEC’ at the South African Electoral Commission’s (IEC) stakeholders’ engagement meeting in Thohoyandou held in preparation for South Africa’s 2024 elections. I was also part of the Centre for Human Rights team that worked on the review of the Study on the Death Penalty in Africa following the resolution of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights of November 2022.