A group calling itself Concerned Citizens has written Chief Justice (CJ) Rizine Mzikamanda to compel lawyer Alexious Kamangila to provide evidence on allegations of corruption involving some lawyers and judges.
The letter dated October 20 2024 addressed to Mzikamanda copied to Malawi Law Society (MLS) and Kamangila describes the lawyer’s actions on social media as mob justice.
The letter said Kamangila should lodge a formal complaint with the CJ against the judges and lawyers within three days which should be accompanied by evidence of corruption capable of proving his allegations beyond reasonable doubt.
“Before tendering such evidence to your office, he should make it public on his Facebook page so that the public should understand the basis of his allegations,” reads the letter in part.
The group further calls on Mzikamanda to relay the evidence to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) or the Malawi Police Service (MPS) to arrest the alleged corrupt judges and lawyers.
The group has also asked MLS to take disciplinary action against Kamangila for what it calls conduct that has brought the legal profession into disrepute.
Acting registrar of the High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal Innocent Nebi yesterday said the office of the CJ had not yet received the letter.
But reacting to the letter, Kamangila, a private practice lawyer and human rights advocate, argued that “corruption fights back”, saying the vice in the Judiciary is not mere suspicion but is real and needs to be weeded out urgently.
“It is interesting that the authors are ashamed of corruption such that they cannot put their names. The letter says I have a mental disability. I do not think even if that was true, then I am excluded from participating in social discourse.
“The only disappointment for me is that good people who are not corrupt are so timid yet the evil ones tend to be bold in their evil. Time has come for the upright to rise and take charge,” he said.
MLS president Patrick Mpaka said the letter was yet to formally reach them but indicated that they have seen it on social media.
He said MLS was thoroughly addressing the matter which he also revealed has already been discussed with Parliament.
Said Mpaka: “We have seen the demand that is circulating on social media although it is yet to formally reach us. But about the issue being raised, we comprehensively dealt with it when we appeared before Parliament and we were asked the same by parliamentarians last Friday.”
Commenting on the development, renowned lawyer and former MLS president John-Gift Mwakhwawa argued that the calls were justified, saying Kamangila has not given any evidence and that he could present the same through veteran lawyers.
