Judges in hefty house allowance hike

 Parliament has approved new house allowances for judges and magistrates, sparking an outcry that the hefty adjustments smack of a nation locked in fierce competition for public resources.

The proposal was contained in a report the committee that looks into the conditions of service for judicial officers submitted to the Parliament’s Public Appointments Committee (PAC).

According to its chairperson Joyce Chitsulo, they recommended that Parliament approves the new allowance in its recently ended 2023/24 budget sitting.

In an interview yesterday , she justified the adjustment as appropriate as “judges have a dangerous job that requires safe houses.”

The approval means that the deputy Chief Justice will now pocket K1.5 million, up from K900 000 while the Justices of Appeal will get K1.2 million from K700 000.

The High Court judges’ house allowances have been adjusted from K560 000 to K1 million, according to the report we have seen.

The biggest winners are third and fourth grade magistrates whose house allowances have jumped by 200 percent from K200 000 to K600 000, the same as first grade magistrates who were pocketing K280 000.

Senior resident magistrates and principal resident magistrates will receive K700 000 up from K360 000 and K400 000 respectively.

Chitsulo said they observed that the judges were not getting enough house allowances to ensure safety of their lives.

“Imagine a judge gives you a lengthy sentence and then he is staying in an area like Phwetekere, (a populous Lilongwe township), is he going to be safe?

“They deserve better house allowances. So, yes, we recommended that the House approves the proposed allowances and it did,” she said.

Meanwhile, Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace national coordinator Boniface Chibwana said the increments are not in line with austerity measures the country is pursuing to stabalise the economy.

“We need to have a well-rounded approach in such a reflection. We need to step back a little to consider the inflation rate that has continued to rise from April 2022.

“It is with no doubt that in response to such an inflation, a lot of developments, including the revision of Paye (pay as you earn tax) and the salary increase in the civil service, have materialised.

“It is with no doubt that the need for an increase in house allowances is warranted,” he said.

As we went to press, Supreme Court and High Court registrar Kondwani Banda had not responded to our questionnaire seeking a reaction and justification following the allowances increase.

However, Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency executive director Willy Kambwandira doubled down on Chibwana’s concerns.

“We are not against any increase in house allowances for civil servants. But our concern is that there are some cadres within the civil service that appear to be more privileged than others yet the economic hardships have affected everyone equally,” he said.

Kambwandira argued that the inequalities in salaries and benefits within the Civil Service could have been addressed through reforms.

“Unfortunately, these are the issues that could have been addressed through the failed reforms whose report the President is still keeping undercover.

“Let there be uniformity on allowances regardless of which department. If anything, the increase does not make sense considering the status of our economy,” he said.