Luke Malaba
HARARE – The term of office of Zimbabwe’s Chief Justice Luke Malaba ended when he turned 70 on midnight Saturday, three High Court judges ruled in a seismic judgement.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Zanu PF party rushed constitutional amendments through parliament which allowed him to extend the term of office of senior judges of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court by a further five years past retirement age.
Justices Happias Zhou, Edith Mushore and Helena Charehwa – in a judgement hailed as a victory for constitutionalism – on Saturday ruled that all incumbent judges of the senior courts could not benefit from an amendment to the constitution extending their term limits past retirement age.
Lawyers Seeking Dumping of Chief Justice Malaba Still in Court Session in Zimbabwe
May 14, 2021
FILE: Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa,left, is congratulated by Chief Justice Luke Malaba after taking his oath during his inauguration ceremony at the National Sports Stadium in Harare, Sunday, Aug. 26, 2018. T
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The High Court is still in session in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, following the dismissal of a an application filed by Justice Minister and Judicial Service Commission for three presiding judges to recuse themselves from a case in which local lawyers and a war veteran are challenging the extension of Chief Justice Malaba’s term of office by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Zimbabwe: One vast informal business
Downtown Harare. PHOTO Sadat Sanhehwe
Zimbabwe’s economy has seen a drastic collapse since 2000. Once a fairly highly industrialised country, Zimbabwe is now a vast informal economy after the collapse of its once-thriving manufacturing and agricultural sectors.
Industry is operating at 30% of its capacity. Since 2011, more than 6,000 companies have closed shop, rendering hundreds of thousands unemployed, according to a 2016 Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) study. The CZI is the umbrella body of the manufacturing industry.
Hundreds of thousands of school leavers are graduating with no hope of formal employment, the CZI says. Unemployment now hovers around 85% and for many, the only hope is now in the informal sector.
By Staff Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum has filed an urgent chamber application seeking an order for Chief Justice Malaba to resign by 15 May 2021.
This comes after the Zanu PF led government railroaded its legislators to pass the controversial Constitutional Amendment Bill No.2 into law whose effect was to increase the retirement age of serving judges, among other purposes.
Critics insist the law, signed into an Act at breakneck speed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa last week, was tailored to elongate Malaba’s tenure as head of the Zimbabwean bench.
Malaba has a special place in Zanu PF hearts after he ruled in favour of Mnangagwa, whose victory in the 2018 elections was challenged through the Constitutional Court by the latter’s main rival, Nelson Chamisa of MDC Alliance.
Live Talk
May 11, 2021
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Tonight on LiveTalk-The Connection we focus on Zimbabwe’s COVID-19 Vaccination program and the World Health Organizations recent approval of the usage of the SinoPharm Vaccine for emergency use. We also discuss the implications of Constitutional Amendment Bill No2, which was signed into law last Friday by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Call our studio directly at +1-202-619-2077 to participate.
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