* Parliament was also asked to furnish MHRC with more information on the matter but the enquiry did not receive any response
* Despite that it was the Parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee that requested the MHRC to act on the corruption allegations against Justice Manda and the Judiciary
By Duncan Mlanjira
The Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) has submitted its report on the enquiry into corruption allegations levelled against High Court Judge, Ken Manda and the Judiciary in general — but when the MHRC invited the general public to submit evidence, none came up with any such accusations against Justice Manda.
Justice Kenan Manda
The enquiry was moved after a request from the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament, which asked MHRC to act on the corruption allegations and — considering the situation at hand after receiving no response from the general public — MHRC asked Parliament to furnish it with more information on the matter but did not receive any response.
The MHRC still went ahead with the enquiry by gathering information from various sections within the society, including those directly and indirectly affected — whose panellists from other institutions included: Malawi Police Service, Malawi Prison Service, Legal Aid Bureau, Gender Justice Unit, Paralegal Advisory Services Institute, Child Rights Advocacy and Paralegal Aid Centre (CRAPAC), University of Livingstonia, University of Malawi’s Faculty of Law, Women Lawyers Association, Malawi Council of Churches, Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance (CHREAA), Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP), Malawi Law Society and Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR).
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In its executive summary, the MHRC reports that it conducted the public inquiry from October last year to March 2025 into access to justice in Malawi — focusing on the challenges that affect the efficiency, fairness, and inclusiveness of the justice system.
During the period, the inquiry conducted several related activities, including a call for submissions from the general public, a review of the submissions, the collection of witness evidence, and public hearings held in Mangochi, Lilongwe and Mzimba.
“As a national human rights institution, the Commission has the legal mandate to commence investigations into any allegation of human rights violation on its own volition,” says the report submitted by chairperson Chikondi Chijozi. “Over the years, the Commission has observed growing public dissatisfaction with the way the judiciary handles matters.”
Human rights law expert Chikondi Chijozi
The report indicates that the public hearings in the three districts of Mzimba, Lilongwe and Mangochi, were aimed to identify, analyse, and document challenges faced by people in accessing justice; examine the current costs associated with accessing justice services and securing legal representation; and assess the impact of these costs on access to and the quality of justice.
Furthermore, the inquiry assessed the legal and administrative procedures in place to ensure judicial accountability and professionalism. It examined the laws and policies governing the appointment and discipline of judicial officers.
Based on the findings of the inquiry, MHRC thus developed recommendations, which include that the Judiciary must embrace a people-centered approach to justice delivery — an approach that should take into consideration the needs of the marginalised and disadvantaged groups in the society.
These include expectant women, children, persons with disabilities, the elderly, asylum seekers and the ultra-poor, saying: “This implies taking deliberate steps to ensure that people with special needs are given priority when handling cases”.
Malawi judiciary
The Judiciary must also enforce timelines for the delivery of judgements and this information must be made known to the public. There is disregard to the 90 days period for delivery of judgments for concluded cases.
The Judiciary must improve the case management system to ensure smooth and seamless handling of cases especially when a judicial officer has been transferred or promoted — which should include the embracing use of women, digital technologies in case management.
The Judiciary must recruit, train and deploy more magistrates and judges across the country and that it should decentralise court services and construct more court structures in the rural areas.
The Judiciary is further ordered to expedite the operationalisation of the Independent Judicial Complaints Committee to enhance accountability of judicial officers while the government should adequately fund the Legal Aid Bureau to recruit more lawyers and open more offices to increase legal representation.
The Malawi Police Service have been tasked to train more prosecutors and investigators to expedite the prosecution of cases and that it must observe timelines for taking suspects to court.
The Malawi Law Society and the Attorney General should also intensify disciplining of errant lawyers as per the Legal Education and Legal Practitioners Act.
To address corruption and abuse of power, members of the general public, who have evidence about corruption in the justice system, are strongly encouraged to promptly report to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) or the Police — with both institutions tasked to increase public awareness on prevention and reporting of corruption against the judiciary and the Police.
The Judiciary and the Police should also take necessary measures to prevent corruption and abuse — including enhancing integrity in the justice system by providing regular ethics and human rights training for judicial officers and police, and enforcing strict penalties against corruption and misconduct.
The ACB and the Police should investigate all allegations of corruption against the judiciary and the abuse of power by the police respectively.
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