By REBECCA MUSHOTA –

.President Lungu

PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu counselled the Judiciary to guard itself against capture by some clever people saying he has observed a systematic, slow-motion take-over is taking place.
The President said yesterday that even though the Judiciary in Zambia was independent and an institution with integrity, the ‘State capture’ that was talked about in other countries was slowly creeping into Zambia’s judicial system.
“Let me advise you that when people talk about State capture in some other African countries, people think it is just the capture of the President but State capture is broader than that…it includes the capture of the Judiciary and the Legislature,” he said.
President Lungu said this when he swore in Justices Mwiinde Siavwapa, Betty Majula and Petronella Mwitwa-Ngulube as Court of Appeal judges.
Ms Justice Conceptor Zulu was also sworn in as High Court Judge. Mr Lungu said the Presidency and the Judiciary was currently under siege by people that wanted to systematically control judges and influence their decision making.
He said some people had clever ways of penetrating the Judiciary and were currently making moves to do so.
It was therefore important for judges to protect themselves from exposure to clever elements by avoiding certain people and avoiding certain places.
Mr Lungu said judges should avoid interacting with certain people because even innocent interactions could sometimes misunderstood by the public.
The President said some reasonable judgements were frowned upon by the public because the judges that delivered those judgements were perceived as corrupt or too close to some individuals involved.
He said perception was important in the Judiciary with negative perception having the effect of eroding the public’s confidence in the integrity of the system.
Mr Lungu said he was confident that the choice by the Judicial Service Commission to appoint the four judges before him was right, as was Parliament’s endorsement of their choice, noting that the four had excelled in their various portfolios.
He said the appointed judges should not let down the Judiciary or the people of Zambia in the course of their duties.
The President said he was particularly delighted that more women had been appointed as judges.