HARARE — President Emmerson Mnangagwa has presented recently retired Chief Justice Luke Malaba with an agricultural mechanisation package including a tractor, a Nissan UD truck, a boom sprayer, and a planter – drawing sharp criticism from lawyers who say the gift retrospectively taints every ruling Malaba made in the president’s favour.
Malaba retired on May 15 after a tenure marked by persistent accusations that he presided over a politicised judiciary deployed as a tool against the opposition. His exit itself was contentious: when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 70, the Zanu PF government amended the constitution to raise the retirement age for judges to 75, extending his term.
In the months before his retirement, Mnangagwa’s office approved a series of foreign trips for Malaba, allegedly intended to supplement his income ahead of his exit.
ZimLive understands he accumulated hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel and subsistence allowances, with some trips attracting up to $40,000 each. The destinations included Italy, Australia, Namibia, the Seychelles, Morocco, Ethiopia, and Kenya, among nearly a dozen countries visited.
Mnangagwa announced Malaba’s parting gifts on social media on June 6.
“It was my pleasure to welcome the recently retired Chief Justice Luke Malaba to State House today,” the president wrote. “In recognition of his outstanding service spanning decades, unwavering commitment, and exemplary legal leadership within the Zimbabwean judiciary, I presented him with an agricultural mechanisation package to facilitate his transition into post-retirement life.”
The package comprises a tractor, a Nissan UD truck, a boom sprayer, and a planter “to facilitate his agricultural pursuits.”
Mnangagwa added: “As he retires from the judiciary, I encourage him to leverage his vast expertise in the agricultural sector. Our land is a vital asset, and productivity must persist at all levels.”
Lawyers said that although Malaba had retired, accepting gifts from a president whose political interests his court repeatedly served sat deeply uncomfortably.
During his tenure, the judiciary threw out election petitions and, in a move that accelerated damaging divisions within the CCC opposition party, recognised Sengezo Tshabangu as the party’s secretary general, a highly contentious determination that led to the recall of dozens of elected lawmakers.
Advocate Thabani Mpofu, one of Zimbabwe’s most prominent lawyers, was unsparing in his assessment.
“CJ Malaba might have saved Mnangagwa but constitutionally, he never served him. That’s why the sight of him receiving a thank-you or service gift is deeply worrisome,” Mpofu said on Saturday.
“Justices are paid from the common purse and not from a politician’s back pocket. That’s an inflexible tenet to be jealously guarded to the last lawyer standing.”
Mpofu said the legal consequences extended beyond symbolism.
“The gift is legally significant in that it retrospectively taints every pronouncement that has ever been made by Malaba for the benefit of Mnangagwa. That is how the law on bias operates. A court order tainted by bias will, at the application of a concerned party, be set aside – whatever the consequences. Bias, just like fraud, unravels everything.”
Mpofu said he intends to write to Malaba demanding the return of the gifts, warning that legal action would follow if the retired chief justice declined.
