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256 judges sacked in DR Congo

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256 judges sacked in DR Congo

Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have wielded the big stick by sacking no less than 250 judges for not having law degrees or because of other corruption related offences.

According to the country’s Justice Minister Thambwe Mwamba, President Joseph Kabila “sanctioned more than 200 individuals who do not fulfil the conditions to function as magistrates.”

Local media reported that a total of 256 were either suspended or sacked, two others resigned while another was put on retirement in the sprawling country which has some 4,000 magistrates.

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“One cannot enter the judiciary with the objective of making money,” Mwamba said, describing the removed judges as “adventurers” who entered the judiciary without a law degree or others who took bribes to deliver a favourable ruling.

“It is evident that there are other magistrates who escaped this dragnet,” he said, adding that a law would be introduced to raise the bar for aspiring magistrates.

It is not the first time judges have been sacked in the mineral-rich central African country. In 2009, President Kabila sacked 96 judges accused of corruption.

 

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