President Michael Sata has been accused of compromising the Judiciary by allowing Justice Lombe Chibesakunda to act as Chief Justice for two years even after Parliament rejected her ratification.
A group of judges said the contract of acting Chief Justice was coming to an end next month and have wondered whether the President would extend her contract in order for her to continue acting as Chief Justice.
President Sata had given Justice Lombe Chibesakunda a two contract which was ending May 2014 as Supreme Court judge and subsequently appointed her acting Chief Justice.The judges said it was shocking that the office of the Chief Justice had been vacant for two years while President Sata continued to ignore the rejection by parliament to ratify her.
They complained that an institution like the judiciary needed to be treated with the seriousness it deserved and that the status quo was sending a wrong signal to the spectators who will doubt the independence of the institution.
They said for the first time in the history of Zambia the office of the Chief Justice had remained unoccupied for two years since President Sata appointed Justice Lombe Chibesakunda in acting capacity.
They challenged the Head of State to clearly state why he has not appointed a substantive Chief Justice to replace Justice Chibesakunda who was rejected by all interested parties when she was being scrutinized by Parliament.
“We would like to remind President Michael Sata that the judiciary is one of the institutions in the country that should be treated with seriousness and having an acting Chief Justice for two years is something that we have all failed to believe. This situation raises a lot of concerns and the head of state should treat it with the seriousness it deserves.
“The President knows that he is creating a scandal by insisting that Justice Lombe Chibesakunda stays in that office even after knowing that she does not qualify. As judges we know who is qualified to hold that office and it is time that our sister makes a decision.
“ This inflexibility is not good especially that the Head of State has constituted the Legal and Justice Reform Commission which among other things is supposed to look at judicial reforms,” they said.
The justices further warned that it was not possible to attain meaningful judicial reforms when the highest office in the judiciary was involved in a scandal.
They said the Head of State should have exhibited support for judicial reforms by appointing a substantive Chief Justice instead of letting Justice Chibesakunda act for two years.
“We are waiting to see what the President is up to because we know what a scandal this is. There are a lot of men and women who qualify for that position and we wait to see what happens after May,” they said.
[Daily Nation]
I would love to see her continue we need someone as experienced as she is
Besides she is bemba so she cant be that bad
Thanks
Only a cob will see the web out when a spider makes its cotton. We need fresh brains and not tired brains today.
thats why the kwacha has gone bananas against the dollar and cost of living is high is zambia,,,, pushing useless bemba into key position,,,, while sidelining good and useful one like engineer Sosala, GBM etc
….I just love the way time is ticking for these lampoons 🙂
There are so many poor people around me and boy do they look ever so foolishly duped into believing their lives would be transformed in er… um… 90 days LOL!
I so can’t wait for 2016!!!! via a very big grin.
Even Mushota is visibly pretending that her apponited relatives have set themselves up LOL!!!! Awe sure ba Bemba are the laugh of my life LOL!!!!
….I just love the way time is ticking for these lampoons.
There are so many poor people around me and boy do they look ever so foolishly duped into believing their lives would be transformed in er… um… 90 days LOL!
I so can’t wait for 2016!!!! via a very big grin.
Even Mushota is visibly pretending that her apponited relatives have set themselves up LOL!!!! Awe sure ba Bemba are the laugh of my life LOL!!!!
@mushota Ur pf decamping strategy is above par.keep it up.
Mushota: You must be a blonde in disguise. Do you own the NBA’s LA Clippers by any chance? Your comments are always so ignorant and daft!
So if her appointment was not ratified by parliament, what implications does this mean, is she in order as a legal person to be in office even when your appointment has not been ratified.
Legal pips, plz educate me, i am just a syko matter….
@mushota i wonder what ur made of-definitely not for real. ur beyond words in the negative
@Mushota
I used to hate your posts with all the contempt they deserve but after careful analysis, I realized that you always take the side of the minority to promote debate! Kudos to you. The fact is that you do not believe in what you say but you want to pick the minds of the many in order for you to assess the correct situation. A real dude!! And of course you are not a woman in the diaspora as you have made people believe, but you are a dude who is actually locally based. Keep it up!!!
@Mushota
By the way could you please show me how to put my picture on this forum? You those of us in these backward countries have to learn the tricks of technology from you the privileged few that are in the diaspora!!!
She is the first woman Chief Justice and chauvinistic men ganged up to frustrate her. She has performed very well under pressure from all quarters with vested interests. She deserves an extension of contract.
She is the presidents poodle. She does what he tells her. Otherwise she will be fired. We need a substantive CJ with full security of tenure. One who cannot be fired by politicians.
THE OUTCRY AGAINST HER WAS UNCALLED FOR. SATA HAS NOT RUN OUT OF PEOPLE TO CHOOSE THE CJ FROM. FOR ALL WE KNOW HE COULD PICK MUTEMBO NCHITO, THE MOST DREADED BY LAW BREAKERS OR STILL SC NCHIMA NCHITO ETC. THE LIST IS ENDLESS. I THINK THE OUTCRY WAS SO POLITICALLY INCLINED AND PEOPLE FAILED TO BE REASONABLE. YOU MAY END UP JUMPING FROM THE FRYING PAN INTO THE FLAMES. NDELOLESHAFYE.
The fact that this woman did not have the INTEGRITY to refuse the position as doing so is blatantly UNCONSTITUTIONAL, and after being rejected BY PARLIAMENT has continued in the post has clearly shown that she is not a FIT and PROPER person to hold this office. How can the person that is supposed to be the ultimate arbiter of Justice knowingly break the law like this???????
Sata has made the rule of law in Zambia a bad JOKE!
We need a new CONSTITUTION that will prevent such abuse of office from ever happening again.
No wonder our country is messed up with this quote “they said for the first time in the history of Zambia the office of the Chief Justice had remained unoccupied for two years “.Mushota advice your president acting is does not imply she is chief justice, she is a reject forced into acting chief justice,it’s time we got a real chief justice approved by parliament not imposed.
Acting or substantive, with or without CJ, what is my interest? I am a commoner?
And I say, renew her contract. Its like a bunch in eying for that position. Sorry we already gat a CJ kikikikikikikiki
Shame
politician are fighting for the law which they have to implement instead they ingore the problems here,poverty, better health for the of land.the media is talking the chief justice who is her job well i think its not an issue here.
@Mushota, you really amaze how quick you are to vomit your stupidity. For sure stupid people don’t know that they are stupid,unreasonable and foolish. Indeed you will know them by their fruits. Please just don’t expose how shallow you are in your heard, if you do let it be once not always. The people like you are the reason some of us don’t blog on this site, its full of jokers who are not serious at all. Get a life please. Next time reason ,not impulse post of rubbish here.
When two stupid people are quarreling, it is difficult to notice who is more stupid between the two. If Mushota is stupid, then you even more stupid.
Personnel at the Judiciary, to be joined by concerned Zambians, will be breathe a sigh of relief when the FOSSIL Judge Lombe Chibesakunda will be put to rest way off the judicial ecosystem. She destroyed the integrity of the Courts of Zambia.
Chumbu munshololwa is not a democrat. He dislikes accountability. I will not be surprised if he renews the contract. As for the lady, if such a title applies in this case, she is a disgrace. She has gone against all she stood for all these years! Even the PF vuvuzela, The Post, in its editorial ignored the issue at hand. The president is within his rights to appoint Chibesakunda but that is not the issue. The problem is that an acting Chief Justice will forever be beholding to the appointing authority – the republican president. That is not acceptable in a democracy!
LT and whoever lying companions you have, keep Judges out of this self inflicted war of words, No Judge has ever spoken to you, apart from your imaginary senses of hatred and envy. Be real and report facts which you can substantiate. This is a friendly warning : Do not drag Judges into your stinking pool of mad.