Livingstonia Synod takes a swipe at ‘lazy’ judges

The CCAP Synod of Livingstonia through its Church and Society organization has condemned the conduct of some judges for not performing to the expectations of many Malawians, saying the judges are reaping off Government.

Speaking at a press briefing Thursday, Church and Society Director, Moses Mkandawire, said there are some judges who go up to 100 cases without writing any judgment, yet they are on fore-front demanding Government to hike their salaries.

“We have noted with deep concerns that there are some judges who are underperforming. They don’t write down cases. There is no way you can demand [for more] while you are not performing. That’s a lazy-pay approach,” Mkandawire said.

He added that his organization is investigating those issues and it will soon expose the names of the underperforming judges for them to change.

This development follows the ongoing judicial strike, now in its third week, demanding the government to review their salaries just the same way it has done with the civil service.

The judiciary staff earlier rejected the government’s proposal to hike their salaries by 51 per cent, saying they need more than that; and the judges are set to join the strike if government does not comply with judiciary demands.

However, Mkandawire said though the country’s economy is staggering, government should compromise with the judiciary staff because many people are languishing in prisons in the name of remand.

He said it is not normal for one arm of the government to malfunction because it negatively affects the development of the country.

“We are cruising through tough economic times, there are limited resources, and the budget cannot meet their demands. But for the sake of the fundamental rights of people, government should just bow down to their demands,” he said.