By Draxon Maloya.
Malawi. – (News of The South) Lawyers in the country have warned politicians against interfering with the independence, duties and responsibilities of the judiciary.
On Wednesday, lawyers in all the major cities of the country took to the street and presented their statements to the registrar of the High Courts condemning the executive arm of government for intending to send the Chief Justice on forced leave pending retirement.
Speaking after reading and presenting their statement to the Mzuzu High Court Registrar, Brian Sambo, the leader of the legal practitioners, Victor Gondwe reminded politicians in the country that they will need the same judiciary they are playing around with at some point.
“Our decision is clear and we are not happy with the decision of the executive arm of government, whether they want or not the Chief Justice is going no where, the judiciary should be left alone and we cannot accept such impunity anymore,” Gondwe said.
However, Gondwe put the record straight that though lawyers are allowed to take part in politics but when it comes to matters of principle then the law should always prevail.
In their notice of Demonstration in Defense of Judicial Independence and the Rule of Law, those who took part in the Demonstration include, all lawyers, paralegals, law professors, lecturers and staff, students in the legal profession and court users.
Also speaking at the same statement presentation ceremony, the Executive Director for the governance arm in the Church of Central Africa Presbetery (CCAP), Livingstonia Synod, the Church and Society Programs, Moses Mkandawire stress on the need for the judiciary to be independent.
“Our constitution clear demarcate the powers of the arms of government so there is no way a certain group of greedy and selfish individuals take everything into their own hands and break the law left and right expecting us (Civil rights Organizations) to be watching,” Mkandawire said.
On Wednesday, the minister of Information and Civic Education, Mark Botomani released a press statement indicating that government is still standing by it’s decision to send the Chief Justice on leave pending retirement which is contrary to section five (5) of the Republican constitution which clearly stipulate it’s superiority even to the president.
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