07/04/2024
Throwback to interview we had with Musa Mwenye SC
State Counsel has since then been appointed as the Chairperson for the Anti-Corruption Commission.
MUSA MWENYE SC: A MAN WITH INTEGRITY
Lawyer Stories Zambia had the rare honor and privilege of being given audience with the very eminent Musa Mwenye, State Counsel. He served as Attorney General in 2014, a position he ascended to after having served as Solicitor General of Zambia. He also served as Honorary Secretary of the Law Association of Zambia and subsequently held the position of President of the Association. Mr. Mwenye was also spokesperson of the Oasis Forum, an organization particularly influential on the political scene in the early 2000’s. A Solicitor of the Supreme court of England and Wales; and is currently Senior Partner of firm of Mwenye and Mwitwa Advocates, alongside his partner Eddie Mwitwa. But his most prolific quality is his patriotism to mother Zambia, as can be noticed by anyone who has even as much as breathed the same air as him.
State Counsel, shared his remarkable and vital lessons which we ought to take note and put into practice. We remain greatly indebted to him for such an opportunity.
Scooping into Mr. Mwenye’s rationale of what enthused him to pursue a career in Law; His response was not the stereotypical one of passion driven, he said “I was blessed enough to know what I wanted at a tender age” in addition to that, he mentioned that legal dramas viewed during his childhood were equally a contributing factor, he citing LA Law as one of them.
This was the beginning of State Counsel’s journey of turning his aspiration into reality. After completing his high school, he enrolled at the University of Zambia in the early 90’s, he had unfortunately lost his mother, who was his single parent, while in Secondary school. The death of a parent comes with many challenges but with responsibility and a spirit of hard work he navigated his varsity years with the aid of the government through the bursary schemes. He passionately emphasized the importance of encouraging government bursary and not parting away with the initiative, as without it, he would not have been molded into the highly esteemed Lawyer he is today.
Diving into his experience at the University, Mr. Mwenye mentioned that, his was not a smooth passage, as it is with the current wave of internet and various search engines, due to lack of sufficient resources and materials to make the learning environment conducive. He reminisces about how materials were only accessible at the Law Deck of the University of Zambian Library as well as the Supreme Court of Zambia Library. He expressed how challenging the access of technology for research purposes and access to information was.
The handicaps were not a deterrent to his determination to excel and achieve his purpose. He drew our attention, to the longest recorded closures in the history of the University Of Zambia, which without a doubt were contributing factors to the hindrance of learning. State Counsel’s experiences however, only bolstered his character, and as law students, those aspiring and equally those practicing should emulate having Persistence and Resilience in order to strive and unleash maximum potential. In light of that, his university law class has produced quite a lot of prominent persons among them are seven (7) Judges that sit at the High Court and Supreme Court of Zambia.
During university he interned with the late Mainza Chona, SC, at Mahachi Chambers and he shared how he would walk to work at Findeco House from Emmasdale, where he resided then. One can only imagine the dreadfully long distance, but Mr. Mwenye soldiered on as his goals were yet to be attained and he could not grow weary. On this premise he echoed the words that “we all have to realize that Law is a Calling” He further elucidated this point by saying “It is not necessarily accurate that, by virtue of being a lawyer you have stricken gold and become wealthy.” Reasonably there are more elements to the field of work. Hard work being the core principle, as the saying goes “there’s no sweet without sweat.” Another element accompanied with hard work is sacrifice, of which there are circumstances where one’s life is at stake. On this matter he gave reference to the late Mr. Ngenda, a lawyer who was assassinated as a result of his work. He emphasized that the most significant attribute of a lawyer is Courage.
State Counsel bemoaned the status quo by saying “It is creating small groups of mercenaries who at all costs want to be rich. As lawyers, it is crucial to speak and address matters based on principle whenever called upon.”
Furthermore when asked about land mark cases he has worked on, he revealed that they were several but to mention a few. He cited the Nigel Mutuna v The Attorney General. He also cited the case of Lt. Gen. Christon Tembo -v- AG in which he and Madam Nelly Muti worked together and obtained an order that declared that since district commissioners were civil servants, they could not actively engage in partisan politics.
Looking outside the scope of his personal and work experience, we asked a diverse range of questions with regards to general issues of, or affecting the public. A question on whether or not there was political pressure when served in government as the Attorney General, his response was “Sometimes they were attempts, no matter how much pressure would be exerted, the interest of the public should override my political interests.” In addition to this, he stated the need to have a backbone of steel, which is to stay true to your principles. He further stressed how unfortunately many people lack this attribute.
When asked to comment on the situation which happened in 2014, after the late president Mr. Michael Chilufya Sata died, when his Excellency President Lungu was then the acting president. State Counsel said, “The constitution was very clear that the Vice President would act as President if the incumbent dies as it was the case.” In addition he provided that “The law should never be circumvented for political expediency.”
In light of the foregoing, the amendment of the constitution Bill No. 10. We asked a question on the constitution making process. On which he stated “The process protects contents,” however some may beg to differ with such a statement, as that is not the reality or practice. State Counsel went on to say “If the process is flawed, then we will not get a good constitution.” Furthermore he stated that it was sad that the Dialogue process (NDF) morphed into a constitution making process.
“The best way to make a constitution is to take the South African approach which was all inclusive and should be bottom up, where politicians only play a facilitating role.” State Counsel stressed that “The Zambian people from time immemorial have been consistent with what type of constitution they need, as evidenced from the various Constitutional Commission Reviews. He further stated that “A constitution is a social contract for all Zambians and the constitution making process cannot realistically take less than two years because for the need to consult the population widely and to get the people to own their content in the constitution” Additionally he expressed that the constitution should stand the test of time, which is one of the characteristics a constitution, upholding good governance, should fulfill giving the United States of America’s constitution as an example.
What weakens institutions has been a topic of grave concern to the people of Zambia. State counsel mentioned corruption and expressed the urge to fight it. He stated that “Corruption needs to be fought from the top and should not be used as a tool to fix political opponents.” Mr. Mwenye lamented the situation saying “unfortunately, many times where there is a corrupt acquisition of property, there is a lawyer involved in the transaction” Moreover he went on to say that “Lawyers should never be accomplices to conduct criminal activities but must exhibit high integrity.”
Finally we tapped into his private firm, when asked about the key to having a successful firm. He stated that, “There is need of finding person(s) that you share common values with.” On this aspect he mentioned his Partner Mr. Eddie Mwitwa and described him as a man of extreme integrity which they both mutually share. He stressed that this is a very paramount trait and having a moral code of conduct.
As Lawyer Stories Zambia, we are indebted to Mr. Musa Mwenye State Counsel for the opportunity he accorded us from his busy schedule to give us a platform to interview him. We sincerely hope that this will inspire and motivate law students and push each one of us to follow in the footsteps of a Lawyer with vision, drive and integrity, as those are the words we can use to describe Musa Mwenye SC.
