Judge concedes corruption in Malawi courts exist: Startegies put to mitigate delayed judgements
Lilongwe-based High Court Judge Charles Mkandawire has conceeded that corruption exists in the Judiciary which has recently been tarnished with allegations of judge shopping.
Other observers say in most of the times corruption starts with lawyers and not with judges and magistrates.
But in published interview on Saturday, Mkandawire who has been elected president of the Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association (CMJA) during its annual general assembly held in Australia, said corruption there is indeed Judicial corruption.
He said the subject that has been a very relevant topic for discussion in most CMJA conferences.
Judge Mkandawire said one of the topics for discussion during the just ended conference where he was elected president and general assembly in Australia was “A privilege to serve the nation – Fighting corruption and maladministration”.
He said in quotes reported by Weekend Nation: “We in the Malawi Judiciary have accepted that corruption does exist in the Judiciary. We do not want to leave in a fools’ paradise where we become so defensive about judicial corruption.”
Mkandawire said it it is because of this realisation that the The Chief Justice had decided to establish the Judicial Integrity Committee chaired by a High Court judge.
“This committee does sensitise judicial officers and staff on the evils of corruption in the judiciary. It investigates complaints of corruption in the judiciary and makes recommendations to the Judicial Service Commission which may even lead to prosecution,” he said.
During the published interview, Mkandawire also commented on concerns from the public on delays in the country’s courts to issue judgments.
“It’s true that there has been an outcry on delayed judgments. This problem is common in most commonwealth countries and it is largely due to understaffing of judges as well as lack of human capital such as legal researchers for the judicial officers especially the judges.
“ As CMJA President, I have to navigate carefully on some of these issues. Firstly, after understanding the constraints of our Judiciary, we have to take stock of these delayed judgments through the office of the Judges-In-charge and the Office of the Chief Justice,” he said.
Mkandaqwire disclosed that through the Office of the Chief Justice, delayed judgments has already been identified as a problem in the country’s Judiciary and “strategies have been put in place on how to mitigate this issue.”
Meanwhile, Mkandawire will lead a council of 30 members drawn from the association’s six regions for the next three years.
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Chikwawa Resident Magistrate eeihhh ali ndi katangale oopsa!!!!!!!!!!!!!…..Chilindu??? Very corrupt!!!!!!!
Judiciary ndikuchipinda kwa atumbuka. Amangolembana ntchito okhaokha. Corruption nso ili thoooo kumeneko paja mukuwadziwa bwino agalu atumbuka amenewa.
Bishop Msusa of UTM,
Terrible thinking from a dull person who had access to internet by accident, lets present facts not hate, through that people will judge us how far we have gone with education, i think u never went to any formal education
Just have the Chief Justice thoroughly review the case involving the Black American Investor out of
Nkhata Bay (Nations Front Page News February 08, 2014) Judgment 2016..
That Investor was put through Hell until he demolished the entire place and then Judgment was granted
in his favor…
FRAUDULENT DOCUMENTS submitted by the Defendant was ignored… even the Amended Summons was
ignored. This is a case to have The Chief Justice and The Director Of Public Prosecution review …
Talk is cheap lets see some improvement here 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
The three arms of govt have all but collapsed due to rampant corruption. Ordinarily the last pillar standing should be the judiciary but in our case even this pillar is long infiltrated by unethical and immoral people who are easily swayed by the love of money. If we had doubt that Malawi is a banana republic then this is it. There’s no rule of law.
Kenyatta Nyirenda should be the first to be investigated
PLEASE KAJOLOWEKA HELP THE
PEOPLE OF MOTHER MALAWI !!