Heavy rains disrupt justice
The destruction of Mulunguzi Magistrate’s Court in Zomba by the heavy rains that fell on Friday last week has led to the delaying of cases at the Zomba Chief Resident Magistrate’s Court.
This is so because all cases that were supposed to be heard at Mulunguzi Magistrate Court are now being referred to Zomba Chief Resident Magistrate’s Court.
Spokesperson for the judiciary, Mlenga Mvula said yesterday that although, the rains did not damage court records, it left the building unusable.
The development, according to Mvula, has caused piling up of cases at the Zomba Chief Resident Magistrate’s which in turn has led to delays in delivering justice.
Apart from that, the Zomba Chief Resident Magistrate’s Court is overcrowded.
Mvula has therefore described the situation as inconveniencing to the judicial system.
“We are still not using the court because of the destruction and indeed there have been inconveniences both to the court users as well as to the magistrate’s that were operating at the court. For instance, cases that have been transferred from Mulunguzi Magistrate’s Court to Zomba Chief Resident Magistrate will pile up with other cases that were already there; hence some cases will delay,” Mvula said.
Meanwhile, Mvula said the judiciary is searching for funds to renovate the damaged structure.
“What we are doing now is to mobilise funds to repair the damage, hence the process will take a while,” Mvula added.
Heavy rains that the country received few weeks ago have destroyed houses, property and claimed lives in Machinga, Zomba, Lilongwe, Mchinji, Dedza and other districts.
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