Four new High Court judges hired

Malawi President Joyce Banda has appointed four new High Court judges and elevated High Court’s Commercial Division Judge-in-Charge Frank Kapanda to the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal bench.

High Court of Malawi and Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal acting registrar Mike Tembo has been appointed a High Court judge as has Redson Kapindu, who until his appointment was a lecturer at a university in South Africa.

Kapindu has previously served as legal counsel at the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) and director of legal services at the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC).

The President has also appointed two women as High Court judges. They are Annabel Mtalimanja, who was until her appointment serving as Administrator General, and Zione Ntaba, a former corporate secretary at the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) in Lilongwe.

In a statement made available to The Nation on Saturday, the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) said the appointments are with effect from June 17 2013.

Between November 2012 and now, eight new High Court judges, among them five women, have been hired.

In November last year, the President also appointed four new High Court judges. They were Dorothy Kamanga, Rachel Sikwese, Fiona Mwale and Kenyatta Nyirenda.

Electoral Commission (EC) chairperson Maxon Mbendera, who was a High Court judge, was also promoted to the Supreme Court bench during the November appointments.

In recent years, there have been concerns among court users that justice delivery, especially in the High Court, has been slow. The Judiciary and observers attributed the delay to a shortage of judges.