Magistrates, support staff strike tomorrow

Delivery of justice in the country’s courts risks getting paralysed from tomorrow when magistrates and Judiciary support staff are scheduled to down their tools to push for salary review.

Both the Association for Magistrates in Malawi (AMA) and Judiciary Members of Staff Union (Jumsu) leaders confirmed the pending industrial action in separate interviews yesterday.

Speaking after a meeting of Jumsu members at the Malawi Judiciary headquarters in Blantyre, Jumsu spokesperson Andy Haliwa said they were open to negotiations. 

He said: “The Ministry of Finance was supposed to increase our salaries by 2021, but this was delayed because of International Monetary Fund [IMF] concerns over the government’s wage bill. So, we want the ministry to implement the increment and give us the arrears.”

AMA chairperson Kondani Chinangwa said they have been demanding salary review for years, but the Public Appointments Committee (PAC) of Parliament only reviewed their allowances.

However, PAC chairperson Joyce Chitsulo said she is not aware of the magistrates’ planned strike.

She, however, said the committee has an appointment next week with the Judiciary Conditions of Service Committee on the functional review conducted by the Judiciary.

The pending strike also comes at a time healthcare workers are set to stage a sit-in on June 10 2024 to push the government to implement their revised allowances, including medical, locum rates and professional allowance.