By Mercy Matonga:
Pressure continues to mount on the Judiciary to launch a full investigation into allegations of corruption and abuse of office by some judicial officers, with the Women Lawyers Association (WLA) being the latest to call for a probe.
The crux of the matter lies in allegations of corruption involving certain judges, made by lawyer Alexious Kamangila, who has recently taken social media by storm, accusing High Court Judge Kenan Manda of misconduct in handling specific cases.
The Malawi Law Society (MLS) and civil society groups under the umbrella of National Action Platform (NAP) have already made similar calls, while the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament has announced a separate investigation.
In a statement signed by WLA president Chisomo Nyemba, WLA urged the Judicial Service Commission to fulfil its constitutional mandate by exercising its disciplinary powers as stipulated in Section 118 of the Constitution and to sanction judicial officers suspected of corruption.
“WLA expresses deep concern about the persistent allegations of corruption within the Judiciary, as highlighted by Mr Alexious Kamangila’s recent posts on social media and subsequent public discussions.
“WLA joins the call for action to free the Judiciary from corruption and demands gender-responsive approaches to eradicating corruption,” the statement states.
WLA has also called for the swift enactment of the Judicial Reforms Bill, which aims to bring greater transparency and accountability to the management of the Judiciary.
It further requests that the law’s supporting regulations and rules be gender-responsive and supported by gender-sensitive whistle-blower protection regimes.
Reinforcing its stance for gender parity, WLA has called for all anti-corruption initiatives to consider the unique ways in which corruption impacts women and children.
“This includes integrating training programmes on gender justice, gendered forms of corruption such as sextortion and how to address the particular vulnerabilities women face in the judicial system. Ignoring these perpetuates injustice,” the statement says.
According to the women lawyers, when corruption infiltrates the Judiciary, it skews the scales of justice in favour of those with wealth, power or influence, usually leaving women disproportionately disadvantaged.
Meanwhile, commenting on the matter, lawyer Jai Banda has emphasised that it is important for the Judicial Service Commission to act swiftly on calls to cleanse the Judiciary of all allegations against its officers.
“We understand that a complaint was previously submitted; it is crucial for the Judicial Service Commission to review whatever was submitted and make a decision for the sake of transparency and accountability,” Banda said in a separate interview yesterday.
Calls for investigations into corruption allegations against Manda started when Kamangila initiated a whistleblowing exercise on Facebook, naming the judge in several posts.
The judge’s immediate reaction was a demand letter for a retraction, which included a threat of a K250 million lawsuit.
However, Kamangila has not backed down from the threats and continues to rally public support for an investigation.
The calls took a dramatic turn last weekend when MLS released a statement supporting calls for an investigation and revealed that it had previously forwarded a complaint against Manda regarding misconduct to Chief Justice Rizine Mzikamanda.
The Chief Justice and the Judiciary have yet to respond officially to these calls.
The Chief Justice also serves as the head of the Judicial Service Commission and the composition of the Judicial Service Commission itself has come under scrutiny during the heated debate that has unfolded.
Others argue that the commission is too congested with judicial officers to discipline their peers.
In the meantime, momentum is gathering, with the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament promising an investigation and wider public support appearing to back efforts to investigate the Judiciary.
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