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| National |
| Judges return on condition |
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by
Henry Chilobwe, 25 January 2005
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11:10:13
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Judges of the High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal have relaxed on the go-slow action they staged last week and have agreed to go back to their duties following a successful meeting they held with government officials in Lilongwe on Monday.
The judges, however, have warned that they will go back on strike if they do not receive a written confirmation from government by this morning.
A press statement signed by secretary to the Treasury Milton Kutengule and Registrar of the High Court and Supreme Court Sylvester Kalembera said government and the Judiciary have resolved the matter amicably and that the judges will now go back to their duties.
“The government would like to inform the general public that during recent discussions between representatives of the Judiciary and those of the government, an amicable solution has been found to address the concerns of the judges regarding the provision of official vehicles to them,” read part of the statement.
Secretary to the Treasury Milton Kutengule could not say how much the vehicles are going to cost, saying Kalembera would know better since they will be bought with money from the Judiciary’s budget.
“I cannot say how much the vehicles will cost because it is not government that will procure the cars for the judges. Ask the court registrar may be he would know,” said Kutengule.
He also said the decision to use the judiciary’s budget will not affect court operations because they buy the cars from what he termed as an “aggregated budget”.
Kalembera confirmed soon after the Lilongwe meeting that the two sides reached an agreement after lengthy deliberations and hoped that government would honour the agreement.
“The meeting resolved that we get four-wheel drive vehicles and we expect government to send us a written commitment to the agreement. If we don’t find written confirmation at our offices then I am afraid we are not going back to our duties,” said Kalembera.
The judges also agreed to have the relatively cheaper four-wheel drive vehicles, a few steps down from the Toyota Prados that they had earlier demanded.
Justice Minister Henry Phoya, Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe, Attorney General Ralph Kasambara, Treasury Secretary Milton Kutengule and Chief Secretary for Administration Bright Msaka sat on the government side while Chief Justice Leonard Unyolo, Supreme and High Court Registrar Silvester Kalembera, Justices Frank Kapanda and James Kalaile negotiated on behalf of the Judiciary.
The judges started their strike last Wednesday demanding that government should provide them with a new fleet of official vehicles.
Attorney General Ralph Kasambara and Justice Minister Henry Phoya could not be reached as we went to press on Monday
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