Strike looms in judiciary

Wheels of justice are set to grind to a screeching halt if grievances of judges and magistrates over review of their conditions of service are not addressed.

Magistrates and Judges Association of Malawi (Majam) secretary general Peter Kandulu in an interview yesterday said the judicial officers’ conditions of service were last reviewed in 2012 contrary to constitutional provisions.

He was reacting to Association of Magistrates in Malawi (AMA) intentions to take an industrial action to push the government to review their conditions of service during the ongoing meeting of Parliament in Lilongwe.

Said Kandulu: “We are in support of the call for an industrial action by AMA because salaries have not been reviewed since 2012.

“So you can imagine from 2012, salaries have never been reviewed, but there have been devaluations. In our view, we feel that government is in violation of the Constitution.”

Kandulu said the judges and magistrates have, however, been benefiting from the general salary increments for civil servants, but that the increments were not matching the kwacha value after devaluations since 2012.  

Section 44 (1) of Judiciary Conditions of Service states that they “shall be reviewed every three years from the date of commencement in accordance with Section 114 (2) of the Constitution and to be approved by a select committee of the National Assembly”. 

On the other hand, Section 114 (2) of the Constitution provides that “the salary and any allowance of a holder of judicial office shall not, without his or her consent, be reduced during his or her period of office and shall be increased at intervals so as to retain its original value and shall be a charge upon the Consolidated Fund”.

A review of judicial officers’ conditions of service comes with a salary review for judges of the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal and High Court of Malawi as well as magistrates.

In a separate interview, AMA president Kondani Chinangwa said besides the salary review, the magistrates want the inclusion of the clause in the conditions of service that accorded a benefit to all judicial officers to import duty-free motor vehicles.

He said the benefit currently exclusive to judges was scrapped off from the conditions of service in 2012 without consulting them and that they have been discussing with Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs for a reverse of the decision.

Said Chinangwa: “We were about to go for an industrial action, but they [Ministry of Finance official] came and made a proposal that we need to discuss.

“We have been patient enough to understand their position, but nothing is being done. So we are left with no option, but commence the industrial action.”

The judicial officers’ plan to down tools comes at a time lawyers in the country are set to stage street protests this Thursday to push the Ministry of Justice to publish and table in Parliament three Judicial Reform Bills.

It also comes at a time government has effected a 40 percent salary increase for Judiciary support staff from April 1 2024, pushing up the arm’s wage bill by K2.6 billion.

An internal communication The Nation had seen shows that Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs approved the increment on August 13 2024 and that the revised salaries will be backdated from April 1 2024.