Malawians want timely delivery of judgments—JB

Malawi President Joyce Banda has told the six newly appointed judges of the Supreme and High Court that Malawians have huge expectations on fairness, justice, and timely delivery of judgments.

The Judiciary in Malawi has been embroiled in allegations of corruption and delayed delivery of judgments.

Speaking at swearing-in ceremony of the judges at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe on Tuesday, the President said the Judiciary is supposed to demonstrate in the delivery of services the virtues of honesty, fairness and selflessness.

The six newly appointed judges are Chief Justice Anastasia Msosa, and Frank Kapanda, Justice of Appeal, and Michael Tembo, Annabel Mtalimanja, Redson Kapindu, and Zione Ntaba, judges of the High Court.

Said President Banda: “The country has huge expectations from you in terms of how you will discharge your duties. At stake is your integrity, and our people look up to you for fairness, justice, and timely delivery of judgments.”

The President said the Executive is committed to respecting the separation of powers between and among the three branches of government: the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary while the three branches of government work with unity of purpose to lift our country out of poverty.

“The Judiciary as the guardian of our Constitution, the protector of our dignity and the guarantor of our freedoms and responsibilities, is supposed to demonstrate in the delivery of their services the virtues of honesty, fairness and selflessness.

“I am confident that the Judiciary will strive to fulfil its mission ‘to provide independent and impartial justice and judicial services that are efficient and that earn the respect, trust and confidence of our society.

“To realize these, the Judiciary will need to rise above the ordinary and guarantee justice to the nation and its people. This is more important because justice must not only be done but also seen to be done. There is a saying that justice delayed is justice denied,” said President Banda.

The President said her administration is committed to fighting corruption in the country. But she said for the fight to succeed, all three branches of government will need to work together with the courts in the discharge of cases.

“When the public cannot see the seriousness with which all branches of Government deal with matters of corruption, they will not heed our call to fight against corruption. I want to appeal to the Judiciary that as a nation let us stand tall and send a united message that Malawi is ready to fight corruption in all its forms,” she said.