Malawi courts end three-month strike

[iolsa]

Blantyre - Some 2,000 judges and court staff in Malawi went back to work Monday, after a three-month pay strike that clogged up jails and paralysed the judiciary of the poor southern African nation.

Austin Kamanga, spokesman for judicial staff, told AFP the strike had ended after they reached an agreement with the government on salary perquisites recommended by parliament in 2006..

Kamanga said the striking workers, represented by high court Judge Atanasio Tembo, and chief presidential secretary Bright Msaka  issued a statement late Sunday saying they had reached an accord which was "to the satisfaction of both sides".

"What is important is that it is not the judiciary or the executive that has emerged triumphant. The winner is our nation, democracy and nationalism," Msaka said.

The government last year spent 4.5 billion Malawian kwacha ($28 million, 21 million euros) every month to pay 170,000 civil servants.

On average, high court judges are paid about $6,000 (4,700 euros) while junior judicial workers go home with $100.

Neither side would reveal the terms of the agreement.

The strike had added to the sense of crisis in Malawi, which has  been suffering chronic fuel shortages and growing frustration with the presidency of Bingu wa Mutharika.

Right groups have demanded Mutharika's resignation, accusing him  of mismanaging the economy and trampling on democratic freedoms. Anger erupted into rioting in July, when police shot 19 people dead. - Sapa-AFP



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