Peter Vondoepp, “The Problem of Judicial Control in Africa’s Neopatrimonial Democracies: Malawi and Zambia.” Political Science Quarterly, vol 120, no. 2 (2005): 275–301.
Summary: Judges’ actions underscore a key feature of political life in Malawi and Zambia since the onset of their respective periods of democratic rule. In both countries, judiciaries have displayed a striking tendency to render decisions that have challenged the interests of elected power-holders. To be sure, the courts have also rendered a number of decisions that have supported the aims of governments. But the overall pattern of judicial behavior suggests that judiciaries in these countries have neither behaved as government lapdogs nor served as very reliable allies.