President Lazarus Chakwera, in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) today during the opening of 2024/25 Budget Meeting at the Fourth Meeting in the 50th Session of Parliament in Lilongwe, said equitable prosperity can only happen in a system that is run by laws and regulations.
As such, the President said the nation's wealth creation agenda must move hand in hand with a governance agenda that upholds the rule of law.
"In this regard, Madam Speaker, let me highlight priority areas of governance reforms that are noteworthy. My administration prosecuted 852 criminal cases and contested 1,320 civil cases in various courts, saving more than 1 trillion Kwacha in the process.
"My administration established the Confiscation Fund, in which confiscated proceeds of crime will be kept for transparency and accountability," Chakwera said.
The President, in his address titled; 'Taking stock and advantage of our progress in achieving economic recovery and resilience', said his administration, through the Ministry of Justice, also prepared and presented to Parliament 29 Bills, 25 of which have been enacted into law.
"For the Judiciary, we are set to begin the first phase in the construction of the Judicial Complex across the street from this House, beginning with a perimeter fence that will start going up next month; while construction of the Commercial Court in Blantyre will soon be finalised," the President said.
Meanwhile, he said, the Judiciary concluded 28,557 cases, representing a 43.82 percent case clearance rate, but added that it is hoped that the digitisation of the Judiciary through its connection to the Government Wide Area Network (GWAN) in thirteen districts will improve the clearance rate going forward.
The President also congratulated the Malawi Human Rights Commission for achieving A status in Malawi’s performance on human rights, despite limited resources.
Apart from legislators, those that attended the President's address included Vice President Saulos Chilima, diplomats, religious leaders, civil society leaders and chiefs.
Speaker of the National Assembly Catherine Gotani Hara adjourned the session to Monday.
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