• PRESIDENT Lungu (left) listens as Lady Justice Winnie Mwenda (right) takes the oath of office during a swearing-in ceremony at State House in Lusaka yesterday. Picture by SALIM HENRY/STATE HOUSE

By JAMES KUNDA –
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has counselled High Court judges countrywide to cultivate a sense of oneness and operate collectively in the dispensation of justice to the people.
Mr Lungu said he was concerned with reports that some judges were working in isolation on the pretext that the Constitution granted them total independence.
“I’ve heard that some judges are lone rangers, they want to work in isolation. You can’t! Learn to co-exist, that does not take away anything from your independence as a judge.
“A judge is independent yes, but at the top of the Judiciary is the Chief Justice, the Deputy Chief Justice, Chief Administrator and the staff,” the Head of State said.
President Lungu was speaking at State House in Lusaka yesterday when he swore in 10 newly-appointed High Court judges.
Mr Lungu also swore in Margaret Munalula as judge of the Constitutional Court.
Among the 10 judges were Winnie Mwenda, Irene Mbewe, Penjani Lamba, Mercy Makubalo and Mwape Bowa.
Others were Edward Musona, Martin Musaluke, Mathew Chisunka, Egispo Mwansa and Derrick Mulenga.
Mr Lungu said the Judiciary was perceived as a unit by people outside the legal profession, hence judges who did not wish to collaborate with their colleagues were taking away the respect that people had for the service.
The Head of State suggested that judges should feel free to exercise practices such as sharing of court rooms as opposed to monopolising the facilities even when their sessions were not in progress.
“What we are getting are situations where a judge says ‘oh I am independent’. Yes, you are independent, but that independence does not mean that you ignore the hierarchy in the Judiciary administrative set-up because that makes it difficult for you to deliver justice to the people.
“I know of some judges who have not moved because of lethargic procrastination in the delivery of judgments and every time their names come up, they are shot down, not by me but by the same system they serve,” Mr Lungu said.
He urged the judges, whom he congratulated for their achievement, to be courteous and realise that they were part of the communities they served.
“Congratulations to each one of you, I wish you well. Go out there and serve the people of Zambia. Don’t be a let down, be good judges,” Mr Lungu said.