Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs who is also Solicitor General, Anthony Kamanga SC has said there is need for coordination of donor support to the justice sector in Malawi to ensure effectiveness of aid and ensure ownership and leadership.

Kamanga was speaking at the ministry headquarters in Lilongwe during an audience with Siphosani Malunga, a governance expert from the UNDP Regional Service Centre in Johannesburg in South Africa on a mission to Malawi to support the country office governance cluster in its programming and strategic planning process.

The Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs gets support from the UNDP through the Access to Justice programme.

Mr. Kamanga SC said the ministry as a key implementing partners on issues to do with governance, would like to see a more coordinated donor support towards the sector which, he said, is not the case now.

The PS said to achieve harmonization of donor support the ministry, with the support of UNDP, is recruiting a coordinator to devise a coordination strategy for all the support to the sector to make it more effective and responsive to issues of justice in Malawi.

The Solicitor General said the ministry is contemplating resuscitating local courts, improving court’s infrastructure, training judges, magistrates and professional staff in a bid to improve delivery of justice in the country. He added that the local courts be a departure from the traditional courts in existence earlier in the history of justice delivery in Malawi.

Mr. Malunga commended the Ministry in its stride towards improving access to justice through the resuscitation of local courts saying it is when justice is readily available to everyone including the marginalized that the sector begins to make a difference in people’s lives.

In another development the UNDP is in the process of supporting the Malawi Parliament in strengthening capacities of members of parliament (MPs) to negotiate and dialogue as a means of resolving parliamentary disputes.

UNDP will support parliament intervene in the issue of dispute resolution by supporting it organize a three day workshop for members of parliament to discuss ways of amicably resolving disputes and dealing with alternative opinion.

During his mission Mr. Malunga also supported the UNDP governance cluster in Malawi plan around the undertaking by consulting different stakeholders and coming with up with a programme of action for the training slated for October.

The training is expected to result in a parliament that is better able to perform its mandate, functions and responsibilities effectively and able to resolve its internal disputes effectively through negotiations and dialogue.