The Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament has decried understaffing levels at the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The Committee`s Chairperson Yusuf Nthenda expressed the displeasure when meeting officials from the DPP in Lilongwe and learnt that the office has only 24 lawyers against a population of 18 million Malawians.

“There is need for the Department of Human Resource to make sure that the Directorate of Public Prosecutions is well staffed.”

“You see this is the heart of criminal prosecution in the country, so it’s unspeakable in fact to hear that only 24 lawyers are there against a population of 18 to 20 million,” said Nthenda.

He added that the widening gap on understaffing levels at the DPP Office is a very worrying development for the country`s justice delivery and he has since pleaded with the department of Human Resources to recruit more lawyers for the Office.

“The Department of Human Resource in consultations with the Ministry of Finance should make sure that at least a good number of professional lawyers are employed in the Directorate,” said Nthenda.