Ndewere fight back: Malaba and Gwaunza recuse themselves from case
HARARE – In a surprise move, Chief Justice Luke Malaba and his deputy Elizabeth Gwaunza have recused themselves from the case involving fired High Court Judge, Justice Erica Ndewere.
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HARARE – In a surprise move, Chief Justice Luke Malaba and his deputy Elizabeth Gwaunza have recused themselves from the case involving fired High Court Judge, Justice Erica Ndewere.
HARARE – Businessman Tendai Mashamanda has intensified his call for the resignation of Chief Justice Luke Malaba, accusing him of deliberately ignoring his “legitimate complaints” against his subordinates.
HARARE – Chief Justice Luke Malaba said misinformation and intimidation of judicial officers for decisions made during the course of their work was rife in 2023. Opening the 2024 legal year in Harare on Monday, Malaba said seven judges had fallen victim to misinformation and attempted intimidation particularly on cases of political interest.
Tendai Ruben Mbofana: “It was quite curious listening to the Chief Justice of Zimbabwe Luke Malaba urge Zimbabweans to respect constitutionalism. He made these comments at the occasion to mark the opening of the 2024 legal year at the Constitutional Court yesterday (8th January) in the capital Harare.”
The decision by Chief Justice Luke Malaba to unlawfully allow a High Court judge who resigned following corruption investigations to come back to write outstanding judgements without being first cleared is likely to worsen criminality with impunity a legal expert told Nehanda Radio. Justice Webster Chinamora was quick to resign after President Emmerson Mnangagwa had appointed a tribunal to investigate him over allegations of corruption and incompetence. The charges include a report that Chinamora illegally made a ruling on a case that he did not hear.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government has controversially awarded US$400 000 housing loans to all judges in the country, three months before elections, Nehanda Radio can exclusively reveal.
Chief Justice Luke Malaba had warned lawyers against attacking the judiciary over judgments that go against their clients. Officially opening the 2023 legal year in Harare on Monday, Malaba who retained the position of Chief Justice under very controversial circumstances in 2021 after his term had expired, said lawyers were aware of the legal remedies available if they thought a judgment was incorrect.
The fight for the Mercedes Benz allocated to Erica Ndewere has turned personal after Chief Justice Luke Malaba and Walter Chikwanha, Secretary to JSC, yesterday sent staff to seize the official Mercedes Benz that was issued to her when she was a Judge of the High Court.
JSC staff broke the gate and doors to Ndewere’s house. They spent 4 hours on the property after breaking into the garage and brought a lock smith to forcibly open the car.
It is understood that Ndewere barricaded herself in the bedroom as she feared for her life. Her husband was not at home.
Her lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa said in her letter to the JSC that it is tribalism and criminal abuse of office for Malaba to deny Ndewere and Francis Bere the right to buy their cars, while allowing a Ndebele judge, Thomson Mabhikwa to buy his cars which had not even clocked 5 years.
Some Zimbabwean magistrates have admitted that the judiciary is “captured” by politicians and Chief Justice Luke Malaba who reportedly continues to “interfere” with their judgements. This was revealed in a damning open letter to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) and the Auditor-General, by magistrates who preferred anonymity presumably to avoid intimidation.
Constitutional Court (ConCourt) judge Justice Bharat Patel who is one of the judges who wrote a controversial judgement that allowed Chief Justice Luke Malaba’s term of office to be extended by five more years after reaching the age of 70 has become the first beneficiary of his own judgment.