By Linda Kwanjana

On 12 June , Malawi President Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera opened the Separation of Power Summit at the Bingu International Conference Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe.

During the meeting Chakwera urged those holding power in various branches of Government to use the same power responsibly.

Chakwera spoke against abuse of Powers at all levels.

A day later, and that was on 13 June, 2023, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) released a public statement in which the party expressed dismay with the speech which the President delivered during the conference.

In the statement the DPP wondered that if the President is not responsible, then who is?

The statement alleged that everything is going wrong, and the Chakwera administration does not seem to care.

However DPP might have been misled or chose to take it wrongly. DPP has very learned lawyers and even the DPP president Peter Mutharika is a Lawyer.

The truth of the matter is that Doctrine of Separation of Power, which was developed by Montesquieu the French jurist, who lived in England from 1729 until 1731, is so important.

He based his exposition on the English Constitution of the early eighteenth century as he understood it. He followed attempts by Aristotle and Locke in dividing the power of government.

He explained that, in order to prevent the abuse of powers, the power of the government should not be left entirely to one body or person; instead it should be separated or divided in some way.

He went further and divided the power of government into three major functions. These were: law-making function (the legislative), Law-applying function (the executive) and law-enforcing function (the judicial). This separation of powers is perceived in the United Kingdom among the Monarch, Parliament and the Court of Law.

One branch of government must not exercise the power of another, for instance executive should not legislate. However, if it is to be found that there was an abuse of power there can be no political liberty.

In addition, DPP should be mindful that a complete separation of power would probably be unworkable as a system of government and would seem presidential.

It would also bring the government to a standstill, especially that executive and legislative in the United Kingdom are connected in Parliamentary system.

DPP should also be made aware that the role of the executive or administrative function is that to formulate and implement government policy across all governmental activities, while judiciary consists disputed questions of the facts of particular cases and Law according to the Law as layed down by Parliament and expounded by the Courts. It is the branch that adjudicates upon conflicts between State Institution, between individuals and between state and individuals.

According to the French Jurist the legislative function is the making body of a new Law and the existing Law alternative or repeal. It involves the enactment of general rules determine the structure and powers of public and authority.

In view of the above, President Chakwera was right that he cannot control all branches and this is what framers of this doctrine are talking about.