In an interview with The Chronicle, CJ Malaba
said the Judiciary, which is the third arm of the State after the Executive and
the Legislature, operates within the confines of the country’s Constitution
from which it derives its independence.
“The Judiciary is an institution of the people by virtue of
it having been created by the very same people. The Judiciary doesn’t create
itself. With us, we are very clear and I can say it once and for all that there
is no one who has ever interfered with the judiciary, including the President
himself and if people don’t believe that then hard luck. It is in the interest
of everyone that the judiciary has independence and that includes members of
the public, the Executive, Legislature and even NGOs. It is also in the
interest of even those that criticise the Judiciary to ensure its independence. You don’t criticise the
judiciary to the extent of eroding its independence,” he said.
CJ Malaba’s remarks come hot on the heels of
unsubstantiated claims by some members of society, including the opposition,
alleging that some court decisions not ruled in their favour, were a directive
from the Government.
Notably, the recent conviction of Chief Felix
Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni who was slapped with an effective18 months in jail for
ordering his subjects to destroy a villager’s property in Ntabazinduna, has
drawn the ire of opposition activists with some taking to social media to
criticise the Judiciary and alleging a political hand in the magistrate’s
ruling.
“It is the people who created the independence of the
Judiciary and it is equally important for people to understand that before
criticising the judiciary, they must first reflect deeply on what it means to
have a judiciary, and what it means to criticise it to the extent of
discouraging its independence. Independence is not just supporting it, you can
actually destroy the independence of the judiciary by constantly attacking it.
There is no judiciary which has an interest in any other thing except
delivering justice,” said CJ Malaba.
The Chief Justice said in the event that there is some form
of evidence of lack of independence exhibited by a judicial officer, they would
not hesitate to take appropriate measures.
“As Judiciary, we can’t ensure that what we say is accepted
by everyone because that is not our job as judiciary.
“However, as the Judiciary, we can only state what we exist
for, and if anyone has a case of a judicial officer who has exhibited lack of
independence and lack of independence is not just a term in abstract, but a
constitutionally reviewable substantive term hence you don’t criticise a
judiciary in the air and hope to succeed. You will never succeed because we don’t
care,” he said.
“What we care about is the substantive aspect and if you
can show us that a particular judicial officer has acted against the
constitutional obligation to be independent then definitively we will take
action even if it’s a chief justice who has to be shown that he acted outside
the law because that is the only criteria by which we measure ourselves in the
judiciary.” Chronicle
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