Brenna Matendere

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has set up a tribunal to investigate a High Court judge who was part of a panel that last year ruled that Chief Justice Luke Malaba must not continue in office after reaching 70.

The directive to set up the tribunal to probe Justice Edith Mushore is contained in statutory instrument (SI) 68 of 2022 that was gazetted on March 5 2022.

The SI seeks to “establish a tribunal to inquire into the removal from office of the Honourable Edith Mushore.”

A retired justice, Maphios Cheda, will chair the tribunal, which was given five months by President Mnangagwa to complete its investigations.

Mushore is accused of having gone AWOL after the judgement on the Malaba tenure.  

Information ministry permanent secretary, Nick Mangwana, confirmed that Mushore would be investigated by a tribunal whose other members are yet to be appointed.

“President Mnangagwa, by this proclamation, established a tribunal chaired by Retired Justice Cheda to investigate the matter of the removal from office of Justice Edith Mushore for failure to report for work without authorisation,” he said.

Mushore was part of a three-member panel that included Jester Helena Charewa and Happias Zhou, and ruled last year against Malaba’s extension of term when he reached 70.

The Constitutional Court, however, subsequently ruled that Malaba could remain in office.  

The application to reverse President Mnangagwa’s extension of Malaba’s term had been brought before the courts by lawyer Musa Kika.

Sources say she had to absent herself from work after receiving threats on her life over the ruling against Malaba’s continued tenure.

Judicial Service Commission secretary, Walter Chikwana, indicated in November 2021 that their efforts to locate Mushore were in vain.

Mushore has a colourful curriculum vitae as she once worked at The Hague in the Netherlands and at the House of Commons at Westminster in London.

She was appointed judge by the late former president, Robert Mugabe, on September 7 2015.