Malawi Lawyers Co-Opted Into UN Committee of Global Experts

Two prominent Malawian legal practitioners, professor Edge Kanyongolo and seasoned human rights lawyer Chrispine Sibande have been elected into the United Nations (UN) committee of global experts.

The two will be sitting with fellow experts at the UN Human Rights Commission headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland to hear complaints from individuals, organisations and countries and review human rights reports from across the world.

The duo will represent Malawi in the top UN positions as independent experts that monitor implementation of human rights instruments, according to information from the UN.
Kanyongolo, a retired distinguished law lecturer at the University of Malawi, was elected a member of UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) on June 12 2023 during the seventh Meeting of States parties. The elections took place in New York, United States.

The legal scholar, who defeated other candidates from Iraq and Burkina Faso, was elected alongside four others from France, Germany, Peru and Senegal. They replace those whose terms expire tomorrow June 30 2023.

The CED is established under the UN Convention for the Protection of all Persons against Enforced Disappearance by the States parties.
On his part, Sibande was elected on June 22 2023 as a member of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). He got 121 votes from 181 member countries present.

CERD, established under the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by its States parties, consists of 18 members from different countries across the world.

Sibande also defeated other candidates from Peru, Burkina Faso, Iran and Sudan. His committee has members from Greece, Senegal, China, South Africa, Jamaica, Morocco, Liberia and Mauritania.
In an interview yesterday, Sibande described his election as an honour to the country to have one of its own in the UN family of experts.

“You may note that it’s a committee of only 18 individuals from the population of 193 countries all over the world. I would like to thank the Malawi Government for nominating me out of 20 million Malawians,” he said.

Besides nominating the two, Malawi Government lobbied and campaigned for their election which is viewed as a victory for the country at global level.

“It’s great honour. It’s also a sign that government is working well with other countries in the world. Definitely, the work will require support from all Malawians so that Malawi is represented well at the United Nations level under the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination,” Sibande said.

Meanwhile, the Malawi Law Society (MLS) has congratulated the two for their global recognition.
MLS honorary secretary Gabriel Chembezi said in an interview yesterday that while there are some challenges to overcome, which are being worked on, the country’s legal profession remains largely distinguished as witnessed by such international recognition.

“These are positives that we must build on to improve the administration of justice for all in the country. This is the trajectory MLS is taking and focusing on,” he said.

In 2019, High Court judge Rachel Sikwese was appointed judge for the United Nations Dispute Tribunal, a position that she will serve until 2026.

That was followed by another international prestigious award by Chatham House in 2020 for five constitutional court judges who nullified the country’s presidential elections