Judiciary support staff strike worries MLS

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As Judiciary staff are in their fifth day of striking, the Malawi Law Society (MLS) has expressed worry over the strike arguing justice is being denied to people in the country.

In a statement signed by MLS president Khumbo Soko and Secretary General Michael Goba Chipeta, the society says authorities have not treated the matter with serious attention to resolve the grievances with the striking staff and avoid court shut down in Malawi.

“The society has previously lamented the shutdown of the courts, which regrettably for our nation, is something that is now occurring with alarming regularity.

In any well-functioning democracy, courts, by the very nature of the business that they undertake, are never supposed to be shut down and rendered inaccessible to all those who might wish to call them in their aid from time to time.

“Closure of the courts denies our citizens justice, compromises the right of lawyers and those employed by them to earn a living and profoundly damages our nation’s credibility as a serious destination for foreign direct investment. It really is to our nation’s great discredit that this constitutional aberration is somehow being normalized,” reads part of the statement made available to Malawi24.

MLS has further disclosed that it is to engage various stakeholders to have the striking staff and authorities agree on the matter of house allowances for the court to resume operations.

Judiciary support staff in Malawi downed tools to force government pay them house allowances just like magistrates, judges and other senior staff.