Innocent Mujeri

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has today sworn in a three-member Tribunal to investigate High Court Judge Justice Thompson Mabhikwa’s suitability to hold office.

The Tribunal is chaired by retired Judge, Justice Maphios Cheda and has Phillipa Magnify Phillips and Chaka Mashoko as the other commissioners.

Justice Mabhikwa, who is a widower, is facing accusations of having an intimate affair with a member of support staff, which is against his prescribed work ethics.

Investigations into the judge’s alleged intimate affair with a member of the support staff in Bulawayo, Ms Oratile Nare, started when nude pictures and raunchy WhatsApp messages, allegedly from the judge’s phone, circulated on social media in February, this year.

Allegations are that Justice Mabhikwa and Ms Nare, an assistant of fellow Bulawayo judge, Justice Maxwell Takuva, have been in an intimate relationship and that Ms Nare, jealous over what she believed was another lover of the judge, reportedly forwarded what were described as the judge’s exchanges with the other woman to almost all his contacts, including a judges’ WhatsApp group.

Justice Mabhikwa is alleged to have breached Section 7 (1) of the judicial code of ethics that demands that a judicial officer “shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of improper behaviour in all his or her activities, in and outside court, and shall avoid any conduct that may result in bringing the judiciary into disrepute.”

By having his nudes and raunchy messages leaked to the public, Justice Mabhikwa might have breached Section 7, Subsection 2 of the judicial code which says, “As a subject of constant public scrutiny, a judicial officer must accept personal restrictions that might be viewed as burdensome by the ordinary citizens. In particular, a judicial officer must conduct himself or herself in a way that is consistent with the dignity of the judicial office.”

The Tribunal is expected to ascertain if Justice Mabhikwa had breached any section of the judicial code of ethics and determine suitability of the judge to continue holding office. The findings will be surrendered to the President for further actioning.