Court judgments tainted by bribery, corruption

Court judgments tainted by bribery, corruption
By The Post
Tue 10 Jan. 2012, 14:00 CAT

IT seems we are all, including Chief Justice Ernest Sakala, agreed that all is not as it should be with our judiciary. The other week justice Sakala was urging the newly-appointed judges and magistrates to change the negative image of the judiciary and prove that the judiciary was capable of managing its own affairs.

And yesterday justice Sakala said the judiciary was alive to the public outcry regarding its work.

The other day James Banda, the new president of the Law Association of Zambia, assured the nation that they would ensure that the integrity of the judiciary is restored and maintained.

Banda promised that the Law Association of Zambia would be engaging the government on this issue and all concerned parties to find an effective way of ensuring that our judiciary is effective and accountable and free from corruption because the absence of a functioning judiciary can lead to a breakdown of society.

And reacting to Banda's statement, justice Sakala says the judiciary will wait to see how the Law Association of Zambia would do that.

We also had Dr Guy Scott, the Vice-President of our Republic, pulling the string a little further on this issue yesterday. Guy, in his usual way, was a bit more frank. He urged the judiciary to clean its house and join the fight against corruption.

Guy pointed out that corruption permeated the Zambian governance system and the judiciary was not immune from it. He emphasised that the government wanted to see an independent and efficient judiciary that will address people's expectations by ensuring that justice is not only delivered, but delivered on time and in an objective manner untainted by bribery and corruption.

Guy further observed that the more efficient and effective the judiciary, the more support it will attract from a variety of sources.

What is clear is that we all recognise that there is a problem with our judiciary. But what is not clear and agreeable by all of us is what these problems are and what has caused them.

Those in the judiciary find it easy to talk about poor budgetary allocations to the judiciary and how this was affecting its autonomy. But they seem to have difficulties talking about the corruption, the bribery, the tribalism and nepotism that has permeated this institution.

Privately, many honest judges complain about corruption, tribalism and nepotism in our judiciary. And they point to the poor leadership of justice Sakala as partly the cause of all this.

It cannot be denied that some of our judges and magistrates are living far beyond their earned incomes competing favourably with lawyers in private practice and other business people.

Some of our judges are owners of many properties that if they were tasked today to explain where the money for their construction came from, they will have serous difficulties.

It's a well-known ‘secret' that some of them collect free building materials from Freedom Way and from other suppliers of building materials whom they call their friends.

It is also not a secret that there are some rich litigants whose cases are only handled by the same judges, or a small group of well-connected judges - and they always win. This raises public concern about bribery and corruption. And this is what Guy is talking about.

It is also not a secret that there was a group of judges, and probably some magistrates, who were the only ones handling matters in which those in power and their close friends or associates had an interest in. And they delivered judgments in their favour.

Sometimes it has been very embarrassing to appear in our courts in matters where those who were powerful and controlling government had an interest in.

We saw this in our own case with Rupiah Banda where we had some of the most strange rulings in favour of Rupiah. And his lawyers got nearly everything they wanted and could get away with anything they did wrong. In saying this we are not driven by any feelings of bitterness.

We are simply stating facts as they stand. If anyone is in dispute, we can revisit every one of those rulings in those cases. Again, this is what Guy is probably referring to when he says that the government wants to see an independent and efficient judiciary that will address people's expectations by ensuring that justice is not only delivered, but delivered on time and in an objective manner untainted by bribery and corruption.

Of course, some of those who delivered to the political masters got promoted or were rewarded in all sorts of ways. Again, we are not being malicious here because it is easy to show the pattern of promotions and tie them to the cases handled on behalf of the political bosses.

This is how rotten our judiciary had become. We don't want again to see a judiciary that is for Michael Sata and his colleagues the way we had, not very long ago, a judiciary for Rupiah and his friends. We want to see a judiciary that is truly independent and serving nothing but the interest of justice.

These are the issues - bribery, corruption, political patronage, inefficiency, incompetence - that have brought our judiciary where it is today. This is what the Law Association of Zambia will have to address to ensure that the integrity of our judiciary is restored and maintained.

It's not surprising that justice Sakala's cynical response to this is that the judiciary will wait to see how the Law Association of Zambia would do that. We say justice Sakala's response is not surprising because he, more than anyone else, is responsible for this rot.

He showed what type of patronage is required of our judicial officers. Under his leadership, our judiciary sank to its lowest in terms of bribery, corruption and political patronage.

And we hear after all this; the man wanted an extension of his contract! For what? To continue what? To continue the rot, destruction of our judiciary? The man reached retirement age a long time ago and he is Chief Justice today because of the contract Rupiah gave him. Again for what? It's not difficult to guess why Rupiah gave him a contract.

And this contract business for judges should be abolished because it serves no purpose other than just undermining the independence of the judiciary. We are not short of qualified lawyers or judges to replace those who have reached retirement age.

If 65 is too early, let's extend the retirement age via a constitutional amendment and not through contracts given to judges by one man on a patronising and sometimes nepotistic and corrupt manner.

A good judiciary, the type of judiciary we yearn for, like all good things, will not come by itself, we will have to work for it, struggle for it. And it is our collective duty as citizens of this country to do so.