President Hakainde Hichilema has implored the newly sworn-in Judges to speed up the delivery of justice.
Speaking yesterday at State House when he swore-in 19 Judges, two diplomats and the Deputy Auditor General, President Hichilema said there are too many adjournments of courts cases.
The President wondered why a case would take 19 years for the courts of law to adjudicate.
“Too many adjournments in our courts, as a citizen I had a case that has been going on for 19 years. Adjournment after adjournment, it involves a land matter, you can’t manufacture land,” he said.
Mr Hichilema pointed out that cases are delayed to be adjudicated because someone, somewhere decided to sit on the case. The Head of State reminded the Judges that they have been appointed to serve the people of Zambia hence the call for them to speedily deliver justice without any delay.
He highlighted that the appointment of the 19 Judges is aimed at reducing the workload being handled by one Judge, so as to speed up the delivery of justice.
“Part of your coming is to answer the question of the volume of work being done by one judge, it is unprecedented 19 Judges. This is meant to answer the issue files the Judge is working on at a particular time, so that you can discharge your duties to the citizens diligently. Speed does not mean giving away diligence, no,” he said.
The Head of State stated that some public workers often forget why they were appointed for the position they are occupying but should always remember that they have been employed to render service to the Zambian people.
“I do notice that people get to these positions and quickly forget why there were appointed,” he said.
President Hichilema further said the Judges should work as a team with other government arms in delivering quality public service to the citizenry.
Meanwhile, President Hichilema has tasked the newly sworn-in diplomates to aim at bringing investment and technology to the country.
Those sworn-in to serve in the Foreign Service include Zambia’s Ambassador to Brazil, Glynne Michelo and Zambia’s Ambassador to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Rose Sakala.
And in addressing the Deputy Auditor General Ronnie Mwambwa, President Hichilema urged him to ensure there is prudence in the use of public funds.
President Hichilema stressed on the need for proper accountability of public funds so as to reduce wastage.
Speaking after the swearing ceremony, President of the Constitutional Court Mulela Munalula said her top priority is to see to it that there is speedy delivery of justice.