Treasury pleads with Judiciary to call off strike
The Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development says it has approved a K225 million virement from the 2016/2017 budget allocation for the judiciary to cater for payment of housing allowances for Judiciary officers starting this month end and payment of arrears from July 2016.
The ministry has since pleaded with the judicial officers who have downed their tools since yesterday [Wednesday] to resume their duties.
Speaking in an interview today, Treasury spokesperson Alfred Kutengule said the amount will cater for payment of the housing allowances for the officers until the passing of the 2017/ 2018 National Budget this June.
“This is to assure the judiciary officers that everything is now being uploaded in the system and we plead with them to call off the sit-in and resume work now that their grievances have been acted upon,” said Kutengule.
He further added that the Ministry has already communicated to the judiciary on the development.
But Judiciary spokesperson Mlenga Mvula said the Treasury was yet to furnish them with official communication on the issue.
Mvula underlined that the sit-in will only be called off upon seeing documentation indicating the approval of the payment for the housing allowances starting this month and all arrears.
Said Mvula: “I do not know which people they communicated to, but we are yet to receive official communication. We cannot act based on information from the media, we want it in black and white.”
The sit-in has led to closure of some courts in the country thereby denying some citizens right to justice.
President for the Malawi Law Society (MLS) John Suzi-Banda on Wednesday called on all parties involved in the negotiation to resolve their differences to ensure that justice delivery is not jeopardized.
