Justice Mambilima’s appointment cheers women’s Lobby

The Zambia National Women’s Lobby (ZNWL) is elated that President Edgar Chagwa Lungu has yet again elevated another woman to a key decision making position, barely a week in his office.

ZNWL Board Chairperson Beauty Katebe says her organisation thanks President Lungu for appointing Justice Irene Mambilima as the Chief Justice and urge him to continue on this path of elevating women to key decision making positions.

Ms Katebe says the Women’s Lobby also congratulates Justice Mambilima on her latest appointment as Chief Justice of the Judiciary.

She says Justice Mambilima is a woman of integrity and great courage whose leadership abilities have been demonstrated through the manner she handled the elections which she superintended over as Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Zambia.

Ms Katebe says her organisation has no doubt that Justice Mambilima will perform exceedingly well in her new portfolio as she has served as Deputy Chief Justice before.

She states that the Zambia National Women’s Lobby calls upon Justice Mambilima to prioritise the review of the judicial system in Zambia to make it more efficient as that has been the call by many stakeholders.

Ms Katebe notes that if the President continues with this trend, then Zambia will indeed be on the right path in fulfilling the various international instruments that it has ratified on promoting gender equality in decision making such as the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development and the African Union Protocol.

Ms Katebe adds that the Zambia National Women’s Lobby hopes that the President’s next appointments, which include the Cabinet, will also consist of women.

and Operation Young Vote says the appointment of Justice Ireen Mambilima as Chief Justice is not only long overdue but elating.

OYV Executive Director Guess Nyirenda in a statement to QFM News says Zambia has been facing challenges in the delivery of justice for some time now and that the young people are confident that the appointment of this great woman will bring real justice and the wheels of equality before the courts will move.

Mr Nyirenda says it is clear from the way Justice Mambilima has handled herself and issues in the positions she has held before that the country comes first and the rest follow.

He however, states that good as she may be, Justice Mambilima will not find it easy to execute her intention of improving the judicial system under the current Republican Constitution.

Mr Nyirenda recalls that Chief Justice Mambilima kept on echoing the need for the new/better constitution during her stay at the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) even during the 2015 Presidential Election Results transmission, an indicator that the country cannot afford to delay further the enactment of the people driven constitution.

And Mr Nyirenda has appealed to President Edgar Lungu to also consider appointing young people to positions of decision making.

He says young people that constitute above 68% of the national population deserve better in terms of representation.

The OYV Executive Director states that there is no better opportunity for the young people to penetrate and occupy their rightful place on the national agenda than at the time of a youthful leader in President Edgar Lungu.