Malawi judiciary grappling with financial problems
Chief Justice (CJ) Andrew Nyirenda has said balancing the number of judges in the court regions is a tough task as the country only has 22 High Court judges.
Nyirenda, speaking in an interview after meeting lawyers under Mzuzu Chapter of Malawi Law Society (MLS) who petitioned the Judiciary to increase the number of judges in the Northern Region, said the establishment limits the number of High Court judges to 30.
He said: “The legal fraternity has grown in the Northern Region, litigation has increased, court users have also raised concern that their cases are not proceeding as quickly as they should on account of shortage of judges and magistrates.”
Nyirenda said the Judiciary needs about K8 billion annually to operate effectively.
Last year, the Judiciary got funding in the range of K3 billion to K4 billion.
Mzuzu has got one judge, Dingiswayo Madise, serving a population of over 1 708 930 people in the Northern Region. Lilongwe has seven judges while Blantyre (12) and Zomba (2) have a combined 14 judges serving a Southern Region catchment area of 5 876 784 people.
