ZAMBIA: Magistrates win sympathy over strike

LUSAKA, 9 April 2003 (IRIN) - The dingy holding cell at Lusaka's Chelstone police station was designed to house some 15 suspects awaiting court hearings. It now regularly accommodates double that, and numbers are expected to rise still further if a solution is not quickly found to a strike for better salaries and working conditions by Zambia's magistrates. "It's a shame that all these people have to wait for days in such harsh conditions because some of the offences they have committed qualify for bail or bond," a custody officer in a faded khaki uniform told IRIN. "But as long as the strike continues, we have no choice but to keep them here ... that is our job." The magistrates have managed to win some sympathy from sections of civil society over their conditions of service, despite concerns over the conditions of suspects in detention. President Levy Mwanawasa has appealed to them to resume work while the government addresses their salary demands, a position backed by Magistrates' Association of Zambia Chairman Jones Chinyama. However, the membership has chosen to stay away. Their industrial action, which has now entered its second week, is having a direct impact on the country's justice system. "The government needs to ensure speedy trials for justice to be seen to be done. But in the same breath, they have to pay magistrates better ... in other words, the magistrates are justified to call for better conditions. It is not a secret that the government has increased the perks of other public workers. For the sake of justice, pay the magistrates well, so that the wheels of justice can roll on," urged Ngande Mwanajiti of the Inter Africa Network for Human Rights and Development. "These guys earn the equivalent of about US $100 and they are expected to provide justice when they are presiding over a case involving 30 million kwacha [US $6,000]. How can you expect to fight corruption when people in influential positions such us magistrates are underpaid? I think their cries are justified," lawyer Charles Cola told IRIN. The opposition has seized on the magistrate's strike, the latest in a spate of industrial action in Zambia, to attack the government. "The demands of not only teachers but magistrates must be addressed quickly. Mr Mwanawasa made a mistake to increase judges' and politicians' salaries and forget other public workers. He was explicitly telling them that they are less important than the judges and politicians," Ben Mwila, leader of the opposition Zambia Republican Party told IRIN. According to the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection, which collects monthly data on the cost of living, a family of six needs just over a million kwacha a month (roughly US $200) for a "basic needs basket". Recently, public workers threatened a nationwide strike if the government did not give in to their demand for a 1.5 million kwacha (US $300) salary increase. After meeting with Mwanawasa, who explained the budgetary constraints facing the government, their union leaders agreed on a 615,000 kwacha (US $123) to 1.1 million kwacha (US $220) rise. However, some workers, especially teachers in Lusaka, refused to accept the deal and have stayed out on strike.