Malawi News

Do not be temperamental, Lazarus Chakwera tells judges

Do not be temperamental, Lazarus Chakwera tells judges
Lazarus Chakwera

President Lazarus Chakwera has urged newly appointed judges to guard their heart and mind against petty attitudes for them to do their job professionally.

Chakwera was speaking at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe on Monday during the swearing ceremony of four judges of the High Court.

The judges are Kondwani Banda, Madalitso Khoswe Chimwaza, Edina Bodole and Trouble Kaluwa.

According to Chakwera, petty attitudes cloud judgement.

“I would advise you to pay attention to your temperament. This is not something they teach you in class, but it is a rather important quality to have in public office, because temperament has to do with the proper regulation of your emotions and your reactions to emerging situations or to external provocations or to the unpleasant temperaments of others.

“If something happens that stirs in you such emotions of shock or sadness or anger or contempt or envy or fear and you do not take time to reflect on and regulate those emotions, you will inevitably find yourself discharging your duties with an attitude of pettiness and egoism emanating from those unregulated emotions instead of discharging your duties purely on the basis of what is fair according to law and what is factual according to evidence,” Chakwera said.

He further urged the judges to be organised in their work.

According to the Malawi leader, being organised would culminate in the judges’ talents, education, experience, integrity and passion having a maximum impact in the cause of delivering justice to court users.

The appointment of the new judges brings the total number of judges to 58.

Chief Justice Rizine Mzikamanda said the swearing in of the judges would help in reducing the caseload in the Judiciary.

But Mzikamanda pointed out that the Judiciary still faces a huge deficit of judges, saying having over 90 judges could be ideal.

On his part, Judge Kaluwa pledged to work hard in his role as judge of the High Court.