Malawi lawyers march to support striking clerks
Jan 23, 2012, 1:27 PM
BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) – Lawyers have protested to support court clerks who have been striking for higher pay for two weeks across Malawi.
Scores of lawyers wore their court white wigs and black robes Monday as they marched around court buildings in the commercial capital, Blantyre. Law society president John Gift Makhwawa says the one-day protest is “to increase pressure on the executive … to take this issue seriously.”
Judges in this southern African country have been unable to work without stenographers, marshals and clerks. Police say jails are crowded because bail hearings are stalled.
The strikers say they won’t return to work until they get increases of 40 percent promised in 2006 and 50 percent promised in 2009. Clerks earn an average of 16,200 kwacha ($100) a month.
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