Deal with judge-shopping, MCP MP pleads with new Malawi Chief Justice

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) spokesperson on legal affairs and Lilongwe South West MP, Peter Chakwantha, advised new chief justice Andrew Nyirenda to uproot the judge shopping and delayed case hearing which he said is bedevilling the justice delivery.

Chakwantha, a trained lawyer, made the appeal in parliament when the House unanimously confirmed Nyirenda as the country’s eighth Chief Justice (CJ) and head of the Judiciary since independence.

He said the new head of the judiciary and another arm of government, would have to grapple with uprooting the unscrupulous tendency by some lawyers to “judge-shop” which in some cases led to corrupt practices in the Judiciary.

“Justice Nyirenda must improve the image of the judiciary by doing away with unscrupulous lawyers who know a particular judge will grant their wish through judge shopping which undermines the image of judiciary, he must guard against this bad practice,” said Chakwantha.

“Some cases have not been concluded due to unnecessary delays we urge him to look into those, we understand courts work at their own pace but there is need for improvement and he must take the matter seriously”, the lawmaker added/.

He faulted the judiciary for granting inconsistent judgements in relation to similar cases adding “MCP is not influencing court decisions but justice must be seen to be fair than applied selectively through inconsistencies, this ignites debates and bad comments that may dent image of the judiciary”.

Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Samuel Tembenu moved the motion in parliament to allow members of parliament to confirm justice Nyirenda, said the judiciary will soon have new operational guidelines that will do away with numerous concerns for effective service delivery including judge shopping.

Chakwantha, however, lauded judge Nyirenda as a man with a work ethic and justice delivery without blemish.

He further delved into the role of the CJ during election disputes saying that the new head of the Judiciary should alongside other stakeholders examine issues of vote recounts and the speed at which presidential candidates are sworn in after voting.

Justice Nyirenda was appointed on 12th March by president Peter Mutharika to replace Justice Anastasia Msosa SC whose contract expired in February this year.

Nyirenda graduated from the University of Malawi’s law school at Chancellor College in 1980 and immediately joined the Ministry of Justice as State advocate until 1982. Between 1992 and 1994 he served as chief public prosecutor

He was appointed judge in 1994 and then a judge of the Supreme Court 10 years later. In his profession as a judge, Nyirenda has worked as a commissioner of law reforms and recently was chairperson of the commission of inquiry into the death of Polytechnic student Robert Chasowa in 2011. Chasowa was murdered by regime agent of the DPP and most accused are serving the current government.

Out of 146 members of Parliament (MPs) present in the House, 141 were in favour of Nyirenda’s appointment while four were against and one abstained.

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