Renewed Calls For Malaba’s Resignation
Local businessman Tendai Mashamanda has called for the immediate resignation of Chief Justice Luke Malaba, citing a series of corruption and abuse of office allegations.
In a scathing letter dated February 8th, 2024, Mashamanda outlined a disturbing pattern of complaints lodged against several judges of the Supreme Court and the High Court, dating back to May 2022, that have been conspicuously ignored by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
Mashamanda believes this systematic ignoring of “legitimate complaints” is Malaba’s way of avoiding accountability.
“You ignore legitimate complaints from me, from JSC staff, magistrates, high court judges, supreme court judges and members of the public as a strategy of sweeping the issues raised under the carpet. You hope that these issues will die a natural death thereby protecting you from accountability,”wrote Mashamanda.
It is against this background that Mashamanda is demanding Malaba’s resignation.
“The Judicial Services Commission has under your leadership failed to respect and fulfill the founding values and principles covered in section 3 of the Constitution of the Republic of Zimbabwe. This includes the rule of law and principles of good governance, which entail respect for the people of Zimbabwe, from whom the authority to govern is derived. Transparency, justice, accountability, and responsiveness.
“In order to protect the integrity of the judicial system in Zimbabwe and the interests of the people of Zimbabwe, YOU MUST RESIGN AS A MATTER OF URGENCY.”
This latest development comes against the backdrop of previous complaints lodged against Malaba in 2020, where a group of judges, speaking anonymously for fear of reprisal, exposed a culture of fear, intimidation, and corruption within the judiciary.
The October 26th, 2020 letter addressed to President Emmerson Mnangagwa highlighted allegations of gross misconduct, abuse of power, and the systematic erosion of judicial independence under Malaba’s leadership.