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High Judge Luke Malaba was criticized for alleged exchanges in favor of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and rejected an opposition request to invalidate the 2018 election results.
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has extended the tenure of Chief Justice Luke Malaba for five years following controversial constitutional changes challenged by lawmakers in the courts.
Malaba has been criticized for rejecting an opposition petition that sought to invalidate the results of the 2018 presidential election due to alleged exchanges in favor of Mnangagwa.
He was due to retire on Saturday at the age of 70, but the ZANU-PF party in power in Mnangagwa used a majority in parliament to change the constitution, allowing the president to extend the retirement age for major judges to 75 for good health.
In a statement, the cabinet secretary-general said Mnangagwa had approved Malaba’s medical report, which showed the chief official had “a physical and mental fitness to continue in that office”.
The decision has been challenged
However, lawyers and the opposition say Malaba allowed them to continue in office and gave them the power to appoint Mnangagwa Constitutional Court and Supreme Court judges, instead of conducting public interviews, violating the country’s charter.
They argue that according to the constitution, changes in deadlines should lead to a referendum and that the incumbents do not benefit from such changes. But the government says it only changed the retirement age and therefore did not violate the supreme law.
The National Court will hear the preliminary arguments of the case on Friday before confirming the date for the full hearing.
In the court papers, the lawyers cited the Minister of Justice, Malaba and all 16 judges of the Constitutional and Supreme Court in the case. The judges oppose the court’s case.
Some legal experts say Zimbabwe could be heading for a constitutional crisis. If the National Court dismisses the case and the lawyers appeal, they will have to deal with the same judges mentioned in the trial court.
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