Top Judge ‘Erica Ndewere’ Drags Mnangagwa to Court
Judge Erica Ndewere, a prominent judge who was fired in 2021, has revived her legal case against President Emmerson Mnangagwa by taking him to court.
After a panel appointed to look into Ndewere’s case recommended that she be terminated for blatant incompetence, Mnangagwa sacked her.
The Judicial Service Commission accused the judge of taking too long to render decisions and of incorrectly overturning a thief’s prison term.
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Ndewere, however, asserted that she was being victimised because she disapproved of Chief Justice Luke Malaba’s intervention.
Mnangagwa was named as the respondent in Ndewere’s submission. She said that by removing her from her judgeship due to the Simbi Mubako Tribunal’s “invalid, unlawful recommendations,” he had violated section 187(8) of the Constitution.
She further claims that Mnangagwa did not submit a counteraffidavit, rejecting the Justice, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi’s as hearsay that was not acceptable.
Given that the constitutional requirement contained in section 187(8) of the Constitution is particular and can only be performed by him, he (Mnangagwa) is unable to assign this responsibility in such grave cases. As a result, the applicant said that there was no legitimate opposing affidavit submitted to the court.
“In any case, the counter-affidavit that Ziyambi Ziyambi is said to have sworn to is hearsay that cannot be admitted. The Minister of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs is Ziyambi Ziyambi. He and the President do not share the constitutional duty set forth in section 187(8) of the Constitution.
“He has no idea what the President read, heard, or thought about when he dismissed me from my position. The President alone does not have an affidavit verifying the allegations made in Ziyambi Ziyambi’s affidavit.
His affidavit is thus untrustworthy hearsay. Ziyambi Ziyambi, who could not have been legitimately involved in the entire process, cannot, therefore, swear positively to the averments he has made. According to the regulations, only a deponent who can swear positively as to the facts can file an affidavit.
According to Ndewere, Mnangagwa purposefully misinterpreted Proclamation 3 of 2021, which granted the Simbi Mubako Tribunal an additional six months “after swearing in of members,” as a “option” to prolong its tenure.
Ndewere claims that Mnangagwa dismissed her based on erroneous advice.
“Statutory Instrument] 107/12 was not followed in the applicant’s case, which resulted in discrimination against her, but the Chief Justice used SI 107/12 to appoint a panel of judges to investigate male colleagues Justice Benjamin Bere, Justice Webster Chinhamora, and Justice Thompson Mabhikwa,” the applicant claimed in her submissions.
The applicant was subjected to discrimination when she was singled out for misconduct accusations for violating Statutory Instrument 107/12’s section 19(1), but no other judge who had not finished reviewing reserved judgements within three months faced misconduct charges.
“In his court ruling, Justice Benjamin Chikowero expressed surprise at not being able to hear my case because he had seen his name in a memorandum dated February 6, 2019, along with the names of other judges, for allegedly not finishing his work, but he had never been charged or spoken to about it. Ndewere stated, “The other 17 judges who were included in many memos with me were never prosecuted for egregious wrongdoing.
Ndewere was placed on suspension in 2020 and fired the following year for giving bail to Job Sikhala, the deputy chairwoman of the MDC Alliance at the time.
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