Judiciary under siege

By Lance Guma
23 August 2005

The trial of suspended High Court Judge Benjamin Paradza opened on Monday under a different judge. Justice Simpson Mutambanengwe, a Zimbabwean sitting on the Supreme Court bench of Namibia is hearing the case after Justice Chinembiri Bhunu refused to hear the case saying he had fought in the liberation war alongside Paradza. Justice Paradza is facing allegations of interfering with the course of justice for trying to influence another judge to release the passport of his business partner, Russell Labuschagne, who was facing murder charges.

Justice Paradza is not the most popular member of the judiciary if history is anything to go by. A string of judgements against the government landed him in trouble and even his lawyers point out the whole trial is designed to punish him. Jeremy Gauntlet representing the Paradza said the taping of a phone conversation of his client with another judge was illegal under the country's telecommunications laws. . Under current laws, authorisation for the police to record a telephone conversation can only come from the president. This did not happen in Paradza's case, and as such the recording was illegal.

Paradza has also indicated in his defence outline that three judges had been hired by the state to try and build a case against him. The country's judiciary has been in free fall with constant allegations that judges have been compromised, with some even receiving land from government as rewards for dodgy judgements. Human rights lawyer Gabriel Shumba believes Justice Mutambanengwe, having been exposed to a relatively free Namibian judiciary, might frown upon any evidence illegally acquired by the state. He says the only catch is if the state can prove the crime would have been committed anyway even if the phone call had not been recorded by the police.

Meanwhile, the resident magistrate for Mwenezi, Macgregor Kufa was arrested at the weekend on allegations of accepting a bribe to facilitate the release of a cattle rustler. Police say he was picked up on Saturday after allegedly receiving a cow as payment. He ordered the clerk of court to release Innocent Mavirimidze who was facing stock theft charges. All this was exposed after Mavirimidze re-offended and subsequently reappeared in court. Startled police wondered how he got out, by which time he had pointed the finger at magistrate Kufa.

The drama for the judiciary does not end there. Harare provincial magistrate, Mishrod Guvamombe had to appear in court to testify against a policeman accused of illegally freeing a suspect. The policeman Samu Banda is accused of hiding court records seven times. He was formerly employed as a court orderly in charge of record keeping. Courts in the country have earned notoriety for delays in the hearing of cases and stories similar to these are now a common occurrence.