Judiciary tells DPP to rise above petty politicking

By Praise Ujani

The Magistrates and Judges Association of Malawi (MAJAM) in collaboration with the Association of Magistrates (AMA), have condemn the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for the attacks towards judges who delivered a landmark judgement nullifying the May 21, 2019 presidential elections.

On February 3, the High Court sitting as a Constitutional Court (ConCourt), comprising of five judges, nullified the results and ordered a fresh election within 150 days.

Following the verdict, DPP has been holding demonstrations dubbed ‘March for Justice’ in the cities of Blantyre and Zomba to express their dissatisfaction with the ruling where among others the party is alleging that the judges were bribed.

In a joint statement signed by His Honour Howard Pemba and His Worship Patrick Mwamale, who are presidents for MAJAM and AMA respectively, the bodies said it is worrying to note that since the ConCourt’s judgement was delivered, certain quarters especially the DPP and whose leader is one of the respondents have chosen to openly attack the judges who presided over the case and the judiciary in general.

The statement further said the judiciary expects DPP as a ruling party to uphold and respect the law and rise above “petty politicking”.

Reads part of the statement: “It is our view that the attacks on the judges and the demonstrations against them by the DPP are a misplaced phenomenal and one that is least expected in a constitutional democracy as ours.

“The DPP need to be reminded that all the five judges that presided over the constitutional referral case had nothing personal to do with any party to the case and had no personal interest whatsoever to its outcome and all they did was to carry out their duty as called upon by the law.”

In conclusion, the statement highlighted that much as the judiciary bodies are aware that the DPP members and its leadership have a constitutionally guaranteed right to demonstrate but they must to desist from and condemn such attacks being made to the judges.

Meanwhile, the Consortium of Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association (CMJA), Commonwealth Legal Education Association (CLEA) and the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA) have also expressed concern on the acts by DPP.