The Judicial Service Commission has fired Zomba Principal resident magistrate, Ben Chitsakamire.This comes after the commission launched a disciplinary action against Chitsakamire in compliance with an order by Dorothy NyaKaunda Kamanga, a High court judge who faulted the manner he [Chitsakamire] acted in quashing a warrant of arrest the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), had obtained against business mogul Thomson Mpinganjira.
Chitsakamire issued an order at midnight on January 22 2020 to free Mpinganjira —in a case he is being accused of bribing a panel of five-judges of the High Court who were sitting as a Constitutional Court in the presidential election petition case.
However, Judge Kamanga found Chitsakamire’s order irregular and illegal on the basis that it was made without sufficient information and missing documents.
Kamanga further described the hearing of the case by Chitsakamire as a kangaroo court saying there were no records that showed that lawyers appeared before the magistrate and that he scrutinized the documents which were submitted to him.
Meanwhile, Gladys Gondwe, Registrar of the High Court of Malawi and Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal has confirmed the firing of Chitsakamire.
when dictatorship establishes itself the judiciary is gagged. i personally doubt the judicial independence here and the way selective justice is been done. all along we have been seeing the bails given at odd hours especially during bingu’s era and nothing from the jud serv com. our judiciary is now making us scared and i really doubt if we are in safe hands. does it mean these guys are dictated whenever it comes to passing judgement?