Africa-Press – Zambia. Constitutional lawyer John Sangwa has challenged the UPND government to take to parliament a bill that will allow the advertising of the position of Chief Justice if such a law does not exist.
Recently, Justice Minister Mulambo Haimbe said Mr. Sangwa’s suggestion to have the position of the chief justice publicly advertised cannot be effected as it does not exist in the Zambian constitution.
But speaking when he featured on Tuesday’s edition of Phoenix FM’s “let the people talk programme”, Mr. Sangwa argues that advertising of the position of chief justice and judges should have begun in 2016 when the new constitution was accented to.
Mr. Sangwa said since President Hakainde Hichilema has promised to raise the standards of people in appointed positions, he should willingly do things differently from his predecessor by ensuring qualified people are picked as chief justice and judges through an interview.
Meanwhile, Mr. Sangwa has confirmed receiving a reply from president Hichilema to a letter he sent the head of state on the need to subject the appointment of the chief justice and judges to a transparent process.
He has however said he will not open the letter as it was replied to by the Justice Minister and is marked secret when the debate at hand is not secret.
