NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF MALAWI PRESENTS CREDENTIALS

(Based on information received from the Protocol and Liaison Service.)

Steve Dick Tennyson Matenje, the new Permanent Representative of Malawi to the United Nations, today presented his credentials to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

From 1995 until his current appointment, Mr. Matenje served as his country’s Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary of Justice.  As Solicitor-General, Mr. Matenje, among other things, represented his Government in Malawi’s High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal in civil and constitutional cases.  As Permanent Secretary for Justice, Mr. Matenje’s responsibilities included the formulation of ministerial policies and general administration.

Having first been appointed to Malawi’s civil service in 1980, Mr. Matenje took up the office of Senior State Advocate in 1985, representing his Government in civil and criminal cases and drafting legal instruments.  In 1989, he was appointed Parliamentary Draftsman and in 1992, Chief Parliamentary Draftsman, responsible for checking all legislative drafts.

Throughout his career, Mr. Matenje negotiated numerous loans on behalf of Malawi’s Government, including several World Bank and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) loans.  He also served as a member of various legal commissions, including a Law Commission on the Technical Review of the Constitution in 1998 and a review of the Legal Aid Act in 2003.  In 2002, he participated in the Task Force on the Review of the Legal and Administrative Instruments.

Mr. Matenje earned a Diploma in international law from the University College in London in 1983 and a Master of Arts degree in business law from the City of London Polytechnic in 1987.  In 1980, he received a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of Malawi and a Certificate in legislative drafting in 1986.  In 1975, Mr. Matenje received a Certificate in education from the Likuni Boys’ Secondary School in Lilongwe, Malawi.

Born on 17 February 1956 in Zomba, Malawi, Mr. Matenje is married with four children.

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