judiciary on arrival at the official opening of parliament
A Kabwe resident has petitioned before the Legal and Justice Sector Reform Commission that the Executive arm of government must not appoint judges.
A 54-year-old Isaac Kambundi of Mukobeko Township told the Commission Chairperson, Justice Frederick Chomba that the appointment of High court and Supreme Court judges should be done by an independent body.
Mr. Kambundi suggested that the Judicial Service Commission can be empowered and appointed by parliament to appoint judges who will have no political allegiances.
He said the current status quo where the President of Zambia appoints judges makes them susceptible to compromise when they hear cases involving the state and opposition parties.
Mr. Kambundi charged that judges were allegedly deciding cases in favour of the appointing authority.
He cited the recent matter in which Judge Mwila Chitabo rescinded his decision after initially granting Director of Public Prosecutions Mutembo Nchito a stay of execution on his suspension from office.
Mr. Kambundi said he could not understand why a judge could make a decision and then rescind after an alleged barrage of threats from the ruling party.
He said the public holds judges in high esteem and relies on them for fair dispensation of justice noting that its absence casts doubts on their integrity.
Great observation thats why we want a people’s driven constitution…
WE NEED A REFERENDUM SO THAT WE CAN ENACT OUR NEW CONSTITUTION, AND STRIP OFF THE EXCESSIVE ABUSIVE PRESIDENTIAL POWERS, INCLUSIVE THE APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES AND CHAIRMAN OF ECZ. VIVA NEW CONSTITUTION VIVA! VIVA A REFERENDUM VIVA!
I liked the petitioner’s name to start with … KAMBUNDI. I am sure must also mean first things first!
Don’t make the president powerless, he runs the affairs of the country on our behalf and that’s why he is given so much powers, there shudn’t be any excuse. every five years he/she reports back to the nation so that he can either be re-employed or fired
Nonsense, the president does not so much powers and authority and powers, no wonder corruption is on the rampant. The presidency needs to be stripped of the excessive powers so the holder can be answerable to the electorate. I wish we could also subject the president to question in parliament every now and then. The idiiots just sit at state house signing contracts and diverting resources at the expense of the tax payers.
Real cockroach thinking.
Cockroach being in the US you’re supposed to be more enlightened!
We in kitwe are not in support of u hopless suggestion comrade kambundi,we want president lungu to b makin key appointments koz he has proven to b makin very sound decisions
We in kitwe are not in support of your hopeless suggestion comrade kambundi,we want president lungu to b makin key appointments koz he has proven to b makin very sound decisions
Which Kitwe are you talking about dunder head? Every sane and sober minded Zambian totally agrees with the petitioner’s submission. How can you allow stupid dogs like Dark Black Chama to bark and intimidate a learned Judge? That is utter NONSENSE.
People driven constitution is the answer. I totally agree with the 1st contributor
WHAT IS AN INDEPENDENT BODY AND HOW IS IT CONSTITUTED?
LET US BE SERIOUS BANE MWE!
which INDEPENDENT BODY? we in kafue are not in support of your useless idea mr kabundi
“independent body” indeed, where will members of the independent body come from and who will appoint them to the so called independent body, HH? Another suggestion was the Judicial Service Commission, but who appoints members to this commission.
The only problem we have in Zambia and continue doing so for some time to come is that the opposition is weak in Parliament. Most of the appointments have to be ratified by parliament. If opposition in parliament was strong enough they would refuse to ratify an appointment and the president would have to come up with another candidate.
It has happened in South Africa.
@Mine Munzi- And it happens in Zambia as well. Parliament has in the recent past refused to ratify the appointment of one Phyllis Lombe Chibesakunda as Chief Justice on account of her having reached her ‘Sale by Date’ time.
Where is My COMMENT?
Where is my comment imwe bafikala!
Many examples abound of good governance and where power is not unnecessarily lumped in the presidency such as the USA. The system does not make the president weak but checks on arbitrary appointments and provides for scrutiny of presidential decisions. Merit in the long run displaces nepotism, corruption and appeasement. Allegiance is seen to be service to the nation.
Nearer home I guess the system in RSA in a way has limitations on the presidency.
There is everything good about the new constitution, the only fear is , what are the chances that the rulling party will play a lot of tricks on it? As Zambians we have through and through been in problems for every party that came into power. We have never had a sitting President who was very rational in thinking, it is like everyone thought he would be in power forever. This is one part of a human being which tend not to occur easily in humans that it is only one day when death would take presidence.