Sangwa warns govt over ConCourt defiance
By Tony Nkhoma
CONSTITUTIONAL lawyer John Sangwa has written to Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha and other constitutional actors over the continued non-compliance with the Constitutional Court’s judgment on Judges Emoluments and judicial financial independence.
Sangwa, through his lawyers, has also written to Minister of Finance and National Planning Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane and Chief Justice Dr Mumba Malila on compliance with the Constitutional Court’s judgement of August 31, 2023 and President Hakainde Hichilema’s unconstitutional Statutory Instrument (SI).
He says the judgment addressed two matters of fundamental constitutional importance like Judges’ Emoluments in which the Court held that the power to determine Judges’ emoluments rested with the Emoluments Commission, upon recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission (JCS).
“The court directed that the Judges (Conditions of Service) Act be amended to bring it into conformity with Articles 122(3), 123 (1), and 264 of the Constitution,” Sangwa said in a statement issued to The Mast yesterday.
He said the judgement also addressed the important constitutional issue of judicial financial independence in which the court issued a mandatory order requiring Dr Musokotwane to submit six-monthly reports to Parliament on measures being taken to actualise the financial independence of the Judiciary.
“Reports were due on 31 January 2024, 31 July 2024, 31 January 2025, and 31 July 2025. None have been submitted,” Sangwa said.
He expressed concern that despite these directives, the judgment remained unimplemented.
“Instead, on 15 May2025, His Excellency the President issued The Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) (Amendment) Regulations, 2025, purporting to increase judges’ salaries under sections 3 and 12 of the judges (Conditions of Service) Act,” Sangwa said.
He said those provisions had already been declared inconsistent with the Constitution by the Constitutional Court, and Parliament was directed to amend them.
Sangwa said Hichilema’s action was unconstitutional, void and in direct defiance of the court’s binding judgment.
He also said he had drawn the attention of Dr Malila as head of the Judiciary under Article 133, to the continuing non-compliance and the unconstitutional Statutory Instrument of May 15, 2025.
Sangwa said this step was taken to underscore the urgency of safeguarding the Judiciary’s financial and institutional independence as mandated by Articles 122 and 123 of the Constitution.
“I therefore urge the Attorney General and the Minister of Finance to comply fully with the Constitutional Court’s judgment without further delay. Should this failure persist, I will have no option but to return to the Constitutional Court to seek further directions and enforcement orders to vindicate the Constitution and to safeguard the independence of the Judiciary,” Sangwa said.
Other stakeholders have expressed alarm at what they have described as an illegal statutory instrument issued by Hichilema on the judges’ emoluments.
