The Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament says it has made a resolution to conduct an inquiry into the serious allegations involving High Court Judge Justice Kenan Manda.
Committee Chairperson Peter Dimba disclosed this in Parliament on Monday arguing that it has done so as Parliamentary Committee with a very serious mandate and jurisdiction over such matters.
“As a Parliamentary Committee with a very serious mandate and jurisdiction over such matters, we’ve today decided to make an inquiry into these serious allegations. We will be inviting the MLS who claim to have written the Hon the Chief Justice on the same and we will also welcome submissions from various individuals and institutions that went looking for Justice before the chambers of Justice Kenani Manda but were instead served with injustice like in the case of Salima Sugar Company.
“The Malawi Judiciary has made strides and earned itself a name over the years and it’s unfair for all those gains to be wiped out because of a few bad apples.
“It becomes frustrating to those serving the nation with integrity when crookedness is entertained and rewarded while integrity is frowned upon and at times punished. And that is not the kind of Malawi we must all strive for”. said Dimba.
He described as a challenge when people do not face consequences for their offenses, stating that impunity thrives and when formal systems fail to arrest impunity, and the society gets tired of it, mob justice kicks in which is the situation at hand.
Dimba disclosed that at the end of our inquiry, the Committee will report to Plenary and recommend for impeachment depending on the gravity of the trespasses noting that such Officers must be nowhere near the bench for they are a hazard to society.
He lamented that there is no hope for the nation when the Justices dispense injustice with reckless abandon for they are permanent and the society has to endure them at the bench until they are 70 unless they are impeached by Parliament.
There have been corruption allegations made against the High Court Judge’ conduct with lawyer and human rights advocate Alexious Kamangila being asked to retract his assertions and demands for the judiciary to be sanitized immediately. Kamangila further asserted he has sufficient information and evidence that the Judge is crooked and proposed that all judgments by the Judge should be reviewed by independent experts.
On 7th October, Manda’s lawyers GOBZ & RECHTSWISSENSCHAFT demanded a written apology for their client and for Kamangila to immediately refrain from making any further defamatory statements or disseminating false information about the judge.
“Your baseless and false statements have caused immense harm to our client’s personal and professional reputation. They have subjected him to public contempt, ridicule, and discredit, adversely affecting his standing in the community and the judiciary”. read the letter.
They further demanded that he remits the sum of K250, 000,000.00 as compensation for the defamation and the damage caused to Manda.
Undeterred, Kamangila the human rights advocate has since told the lawyers for the Judge to go ahead with the legal challenge.