Pressure has continued to mount for the embattled Chief Justice, Ernest Sakala, to graciously vacate office and pave way for the long awaited comprehensive judicial reforms and restore public confidence in the institution.
And the Judicial and Allied Workers of Zambia (JUWAZ) has taken a swipe at some misguided senior lawyers who have suddenly appointed themselves as defenders of the judiciary.
ZANIS reports that Judicial and Allied Workers of Zambia president, Peter Mwale said the recent unfolding of alleged rampant corruption and misconduct of members of the bench makes sad reading.
Mr. Mwale explained that judicial workers are of the strong view that unless the Chief Justice, Ernest Sakala vacates office, self cleansing of the judiciary will be impossible as public perception is that he is a major hindrance to progressive judicial reforms.
He further explained that it is indisputable that the judiciary has to be cleared on some serious corruption and misconduct allegations by the public, hence the judiciary itself cannot manage to clear itself from these allegations.
Mr. Mwale observed that the issues that confront the judiciary are enormous and need timely intervention from another arm of government, the executive that can initiate genuine comprehensive judicial reforms.
ZANIS
Reforms should not only be targeted at Judiciary alone but Laz! The Training of Lawyers 48 years after independence is pathetic ………. How can a country such as Zambia only have 600 -700 lawyers at the bar when smaller countries boast of more? Ziale needs a total overhaul
The whole idea is to broaden the playing field and shrink the # of players, you know, some kinda monopoly or call it greed
Dildo and Gunner I agree with both your comments.Â
A Mwale kafunthileni Kutali, that ka brown envelop you ve been given will soon finish. We want uprightness, levelheadedness in Zambia and not hooliganism.
Our judiciary is sick and dying a slow death! If no one intervenes, we will soon have no reputable judiciary to speak of. It will take decades for our courts to regain the trust of Zambians if our judges, including the chief justice, keeping pretending that all is well, and people are simply exaggerating the depths of the corruption problem among judges.
So we remove Ernest Sakala and replace him with Albert Wood?
@Zodic Killer Identified, who the heck is Albert Wood? Another “Judicial corruption denier”? I really don’t care who replaces Sakala, all care about is the restoration of our judiciary’s integrity. Is that so hard for you to fathom?
The fight against corruption should start with 2 billion ZMK which MCS took for third term bid,14 billion from Mmembe and his clones , state house rehabitation the list is end less, meza flats ,,,,,,don’t capitalize on illiteracy levels of majority ZambiansÂ
this ka mwale chap is a dunderhead..what is he talking about../where has he been all this while..?
Chief Injustice
leave the chief justice alone.what r  u fearing ?2016 elections?
Bought pressure!
It seems Sakala’s credibility is a problem for the POST and PF. Be strong Mr Sakala and please DO NOT resign otherwise once the thieves take over all organs of the state , the 14 billion they stole will look like child play.
viva Sakala, aluta continua!
“He further explained that it is indisputable that the judiciary has to be cleared on some serious corruption and misconduct allegations by the public, hence the judiciary itself cannot manage to clear itself from these allegations”. K14billion is a lot of money to pay back as a debt, hence the accusers cannot possibly conduct a fair and genuine judicial clean up. Why don’t ask for a clean up of the executive instead? For God’s sake, how can an executive whose prominent and learned members owe K14 billion in the very same case clean up any judiciary? Zambians are you out of your minds or is it the shushushus misleading us? **** off shushushus. Chief Justice is dignified, don’t compare him to liars and debtors, HE SHALL REMAIN WHERE WE WANT HIM TO BE, HEAD OF THE JUDICIARY.
CHIEF JUSTICE SHALL NEITHER RESIGN NOR BE REMOVED CRY AS MUCH AS YOU WANT. Well maybe when the K14B is paid back kapena we can change our minds BUT ONLY THEN!!! KUIPA KUMENSO MONGA NI COCKROACH.
Deleted and put on moderation
We speak the blood of Jesus over Zambia, no killings in Jesus name.
You are indeed sick, iwe sakalanyongo!!!!!!!!!!!!
All those condeming the judiciary should first check themselves. It so dangerous to blame the law upholding organ of the Gvt that. Issue might be there but its the way we deal them,a sudden calling for the chief justice to step aside could not solve the problem, he should be in office whilst checks are being conducted , his removal could coz havoke in the judiciary and stear fire in prison were peolple who are jailed for no reason could also coz another trouble. The Zambian people as well as the president needs to take time as they look in this case. Corruption has been there and is still there, but is the way you approach the fight against it so that innocent people are not involved. Cases like that in the UK can even last for 10yrs invetigating,analysing,testing, searching
Good evening
As the Judiciary continues to be under the spotlight, it is important that credible evidence of bias and corruption against the judiciary is also presented.
It is easy to call for judicial reforms but it takes more than the resignation of a few judges or lawyers to purge the institution. The weed is removed from the root and the wound is cleansed from the core. The malfunctional part must be identified and rectified in order to preserve the public’s faith in this imprortant institution.
Nine Chale that would be difficult. As you know judiciary personnel are powerful and nobody dares speaks against them openly. Further they do the backdoor deals in secrecy.Â
what yardstick will govt use for judicial reform? a political party can never reform the judiciary…parley should come in….
How can you expect to have some form of a yardstick for reforms when investigations to establish the extent of the corruption problem in the judiciary are being stifled by the same “corrupt” judiciary? It is like having a criminal sit in judgement of his/her own criminal case. How do you expect anything credible to come out of such an arregement? This is the reason why the Constitutiona was smart enough to provide for the appointment of an independent tribunal to investigate some of these cases; then Parly will have a solid grounds on which to basis reforms if needed!!!!
Some people seem to be very excited with power. Honestly accusations of corruption should be accompanied by evidence. Power can be sweet and you can throw your weight around. But remember real power lies with the people. Learn to be humble. Otherwise your end will be nasty. For god’s sake you won an election not a war! Careful!
1st membe n Ncito must pay 14bn bak n DPP must lead by example by hm resigng
IF IT IS IN THE INTREST OF THE NATION THAN HON JUSTICE EARNEST SAKALA SHOLD RESIGN GRACEFULLY SO THE ZAMBIAN PEOPLE CAN GET BACK THE CONFIDENCE OF OUR JUDICIAL SYSTEM SINCE THR MMD GOVT HAD CORRUTED THE WHOLE JUDICIAL SYSTEM IN THEIR 20 YEARS GRIP ON POWER. THE HON JUSTICE IS ABOUT RETIREMENT AGE OR MAYBE HE MUST HAVE ALREADY PAST IT SO IT IS IN HIS OWN BEST INTREST AS WELL.BUT ONE THING THE PEOPLE SHOULD NOT TALK BAD LANGUAGE BUT THEY SHOULD ALSO THANK HIM FOR HIS LONG SERVICE WHEN HE STEPS DOWN OR WHEN HE RETIRES.
That is the whole problem with thinking in Zed, “Thanking” someone, for something we all believe is rotten!!!!!!
IT ISN’T IN OUR INTEREST THAT HE RESIGNS GRACEFULLY, if he presided over such a mess!!! Let us call a spade, a spade!!! HE IS GROSSLY INVOLVED, hence it is difficult for him to walk away! IF HE was UPRIGHT, HE SHOULD have been the first to object to govts SHORTCUT TO THE TRIBUNAL!!!!
10 year of MMD SATA was the CEO of MMD LOL
FOR CORRECTION IT SHOULD READ SHOULD RESIGN. MALIKOPO
Be objective guys, the truth is that all Zambians have been crying for judicial reforms. The Judiciary in Zambia is too corrupt, who does not know that?….please let us cleanse the judiciary now.
Chief justice sakala is now in shame spot light, when sata was in opposition he sakala refused to shake hands with president sata, fortunately sata is a good man who forgives people and sata has given chief justice sakala opportunity to serve in his admin. sata is been smart here, all he want is mr sakala to resign honorly hence pipo wont say shit that sata fired sakala. The president know that sakala has to go but he dont want to fire him  so dat it does not look like a revenge to what sakala did to sata when he was in opposition.
You cannot force someone to shake your hand, you primitive people!
You seem to be in denial. As Chief Justice a hand shake to major opposition leaders is a sign of fairness not personal gesture. Be honest. How do you expect Mr Sata then to get a fair judgement before Sakalanyongo if he blutantly and opened on camera refused to greet the next president. Mr Sakala never thought Mr Sata would be president one day. He served himself there not Zambian. Even you by virtue of your position or standing in society, somethings are just done for harmony not your liking.
Let Sakala resign. some people who are supporting this SICK Judiciary have been benefiting from its rot.
Leave the CJ alone. Problem is at Statehouse. Wrong occupants at that address!!
All you people calling for the CJ to go should ask King Cobra why he has refused repeated pleas from Chief Justice Sakala to resign. It’s the King Cobra that has asked the CJ to stick around otherwise he is ready to leave even today. He is my uncle so I know what I am talking about. Some of you follish bloggers think we as a family don’t discuss this issue. As a family we resolved a long time ago in October 2011 that our beloved Enerst Sakala should resign but the King Cobra flatly refused and he has continued to refuse, latest was the day the KIng Cobra suspended the three judges without consulting the CJ. Please leave us alone and direct your stupid comments to Plot 1.
Family business or national matter???
Well, it is not your family who employed your uncle Sakala, baba! It is the people of Zambia and they have every right to discuss this issue—like it or not, the judiciary is for us all not a family ‘kantemba’!
The refusal of Sata to grant permision for your uncle to resign is between the two of them. It is a private matter that Zambians are not prevvy to. But the corruption allegations affect us all!
So you have been discussing national judicial matters at home? Where is the confidence that Zambia should have in the CJ? One hopes you are not framing the good man.
What a joke!!! YES, your resignation maybe refused, BUT IF YOU REALLY MEAN IT, YOU WALK!!! NO ONE CAN STOP YOU!!!!!
Please make sure you only share family matters with trusted friends, and people who can pray for you, look how your posting is being torn apart, you may have meant well but sometimes some information is not for public forums.
let him go if he has morals
Sakala will only go if Sata ‘fires’ him but that will no be without a fight. And with the support of the people, he is sure to win and plot 1 will be vacated.
It would be good to see the entire old school depart and usher in a new breed of judges.Just look at the Zambia legal system.Nothing to show for compared to other countries.How many people are in jail without a proper trial?Some because they did not have enough money to bribe this lot while others because they cannot afford a good lawyer.They have also ruined the separation of powers.You cannot be impartial if your interest is to please the politicians.Sata is right to shake the system though he should never influence their appointment.
Sat in action. go PF
Cry the beloved Country whatever is happening in Zambia only God can see what natural minds cannot see, Jesus expose everything for all to see, we refuse any type of confusion in Jesus name, let genuine reforms in all sectors of Zambia be executed without fear or favour, let the law of the land prevail over every Zambian whether with a title or no title, let justice righteousness integrity and morals prevail upon Zambia on the poor , rich, educated , not educated, for those who have no voices, those with voices, for those who do not have connections, for those who have all connections etc. Jesus intervene in our great nation. God bless Zambia and every Zambian.
Chief justice must leave. London judgement, , remember, millions of people in zambia suffering ,y??Judiciary is rotten to the core. Defending the plunderers..
Chief Justice Ernest Sakala should not resign. First of all, this is not the Govt that can cleanse the Judiciary when it is fully tainted with corrupt practices. Secondly, Justice Sakala is one of the few remaining upright men in the Judiciary. Just to remind a few lost souls, Justice Sakala was the only Judge on the bench who agitated for Chiluba’s parentage to be settled by DNA. Some of the judges on the bench are corrupt, including Judge Wood, but to trivialize the cleansing of the Judiciary will be the next tragedy the country will experience in a very short period of time. This is tantamount to advocating change but oblivious to what that change means. Zambians need to be very careful.
blogers are bunch of jokers ! :d
Bloggers. The President has no power to fire the Chief Justice hence Sata has unleashed a mob on the honorable CJ
Your statement is very educating.
The guy is on  contract, which can be terminated!!!
Deleted
Can someone educate us please no insults, what was the right channel for Mr Membe and Nchito to use if they felt they were grieved by the handling of their situation in court ,which is also be available to any average Zambia. We do not want the whole of Zambia to be dragged into a case that involves the non payment of their $14 billion. My second question is would an average Zambian who is grieved by a decision in the court be also offered the same kind of tribunal, just asking please no insults. I think every Zambian agrees that the judicial system, civil service etc needs an overhaul but the timing of calls of cleaning the judiciary may be questionable, why not immediately after September 20th with a clearly laid out plan or next month etc, why now during the $14 billion case.
One Zambia,
This cleansing not about the Nchitos and JNC Holdings and the Post Newspaper alone but involves the members of the public who have complained and issues not resolved.JNC Holdings,Mutembo Nchito and PostNewspapers have actually appealed their case.When was the last time the Judicial Complaints Commission ever discipline one of the Judges? When did they JCC ever remove any Judge from practicing for misconduct? Does it mean all the Judges are clean? If they are clean why the delay in dispensing Justice? Why the complaints from the members of the community? Your guess is as good as mine.
Who are the members of the Judicial Complaints Commission?Are they the same corrupt Judges?
meant which is also available to any average Zambian.
the only thing i can tell you Chief Justice Ernest Sakala is to run ther are cuming for you:o[-(you are next hahahahahah kekekekeke
feel sorry for poor Zambia , trying to get rid of everyone in office is theÂ
order of the Day, its sickening without thinking of the consequences
and losing all good personnel ,
The person who should resign is Michael Sata for being the most useless president since independence. This witch-hunting ihe is introducing now in the judiciary just to protect Mmembe and Nchito will end up just dividing the country. Sata wants Sakala to resign so that he can appoint another Bemba into that top position. Suddenly it is like all Bembas are dead in the country, because they are so tribalistic they don’t want to criticise Sata’s decisions. How can you put pressure on Sakala to resign leaving Nchito in office. It is very clear that it is Sata and his Bemba constituency who want all non-Bembas to leave the judiciary so that they can put a northerner there and clear way for dropping all charges against Nchito and also rig elections in 2016. There will be war in Zambia!
Zambia has a  covenant with God and we need to seriously pray that God spares our country from selfish people who may want to bring  what you have stated above. God has delivered Zambia from potential chaos and he will continue delivering Zambia, 2 chronicles 7:14,1 Timothy 2:1-4. No wonder Zambia is a shining example because of the covenant we have with God.Â
Bembas my friend have the decency of keeping their peace, rather than arguing in an “INFANTILE MANNER” over the “immature & retrogressive “TRIBAL ISSUE”” concerning all things national. You are either so blind or choose to bury your head in the sand to believe that among the judges suspended, NONE IS BEMBA – I rest my case!!
#21Rod. It is known as decent behavour. It was neither decent nor civilized to reject some good- intentioned person’s handshake.
Our learned legal experts seem to have been confronted with serious issues that have drowned pubic confidence.. this is shameful indeed. But the problem I am having is, as a country, we seem to be very disorganized such that some of these reforms certain people are crying for might only target certain individuals and not to serve the most marginalized groups of Zambian society. So good luck ba PF. I totally agree with some of the bloggers when they state that reforms should be extended to other wings of government to ensure transparency.
So pipo. u a telling me that we ve had no fair justice for a long time in zambia? then this a country full of thugs! including all of us. there are simple and easy cases. the general public is not helpful in terms of evidence… cases are taken to court with very weak grounds then they are ruled opposite to what we know. dont blame lawyers alone!!!!
May I Â know what corrupt activities the CJ has been involved in. to haunt somebody out of office will only call for bloodshed in the near future because God is seeing all these things. this precedent may fan trouble for our country and we shall fail to contain it.
@53 narrant. You cannot force someone to shake your hand. If you and your sata are hurt because someone did not shake ssta’s hand, it just shows how small minded you are! Grow up and don’t hound someone from office for this Stu.pid reason. Sakala like many others may find it unhygienic to shake hands with certain people. Please don’t destroy the country with your rabid tribalism and Stu.pidi.ty. The country is greater than sata. Very soon he will just be a footnote
@Rod #21 &42
You seem to be in the denial. As Chief Justice a hand shake to major opposition leaders is a sign of fairness not personal gesture. Be honest. How do you expect Mr Sata then to get a fair judgement before Sakalanyongo if he blutantly and opened on camera refused to greet the next president. Mr Sakala never thought Mr Sata would be president one day. He served himself there not Zambia. Even you by virtue of your position or standing in society, somethings are just done for harmony not your liking.
@44 Rod, help me here, has Sata ever said or hinted at the handshake refusal by CJ Sakala? In if Sata was such a hurtful person like some former president we all know—Rupiah Banda, CJ Sakala would have been shown the door within days of assuming the presidency. But that doesn’t seem to be President Sata’s nature. In fact, ask his nephew @25, Lubinda The 3rd, he will tell you how desperate Sata wants CJ Sakala to stay. So where are you getting this nonsense that Sata was hurt by CJ Sakala’s ridiculous lack of antiquate?
Sorr…..meant to say “lack of etiquette” @46…..and NOT “antiquate”!
Thanks!
Justice Sakala you were known to be a level headed judge until your name sake RB came into lime light then you became confused,the renewal of your controvercial contract became the center stage of corruption, Hon. judge save your face resign honourably although a bit to late,but better be late than never.
Well said Guy and Yambayamba.
IF THE FISH IS ROTTEN, THE HEAD IS WORSE, IF JUDGES HAVE NO INTERGRITY, THE CHIEF JUSTICE IS WORSE.
mr president sir let cheif justice go this operson will turnish your name you are majoruity elected persident and some of the things people expected when you came into office was to let this man go but what do people hear was that him was returned. For the sake of relationship with people and your govenment to gether with the love people have for you sakala should go
The contract the CJ is serving comes to an end in August so there is no need to rush him out. Let him finnish his term.
A number of Questions: 1. Where is the document for the proposed Judicial Reforms? If there is no document, then no one should use reforms as a red herring for destroying Judicial Independence. 2. Where is the evidence that Judge Sakala is Corrupt and why has a Tribunal not been constituted according to the Constitution. There is absolutely no evidence, that is why thugs want to remove him by overstepping the Constitution. 3. What will happen after Judge Sakala resigns. Judges who are in favour of Nchito and Meembe will be appointed and when another government is elected those will be hounded out of Office and the circle will never end. ZAMBIANS DO NOT DESTROY THE JUDICIARY. When a Judiciary belongs to the Party in Power, there will be one to protect you if the State hates you.
As for those who say that Sata is kind not to have fired Judge Sakala, you are showing your ignorance. Democracy is about limitation of power and our Constitution limits the power of the President with regard to the Judiciary. The President can only appoint a tribunal on the recommendation of the Judicial Complaints Authority and since Judge Sakala has done nothing wrong, Sata has no basis to remove him by Tribunal. As to the shaking of Sata’s hand, please remember that this was in response to the terrible things Sata had said about Judge Peter Chitengi, who was a close friend of Sakala. Sakala is a human being and he expressed his feelings over the death of CHITENGI by refusing to shake hands with Sata. It is the President who should learn to use moderate language.
It seems when it comes to CJ ,people start recognizing JCA, whilst for the 3 judges, no one seems bothered!!!!!
if this are the educated Zambians commenting ,God forbid.