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Legalbrief   |   your legal news hub Friday 29 March 2024

‘Cartel’ accused of undermining the judiciary

Damning allegations have been made of interference with Zimbabwe's judiciary by a ‘cartel’, a claim which turns up the heat on the incoming Prosecutor-General, says a Sunday Times report. It notes the post has become one of key importance in President Emmerson Mnangagwa's administration, as he pledged a ‘zero tolerance’ to corruption policy. Public hearings to fill the vacant post were held last week and the Judicial Service Commission will submit three names from the list of 10 candidates to Mnangagwa. In a report to Chief Justice Luke Malaba, acting Prosecutor-General Kumbirai Hodzi claims ‘a few officers have been captured in the NPA, the judiciary, the police and even the registry’. ‘They operate as a cartel. Most of the lawyers, the old lawyers, stopped going to do criminal matters. Advocates would come to my office saying it's a waste of time, it's orchestrated, it's corrupt and justice is being sold to the highest bidder,’ Hodzi said. He said the main perpetrators have been identified ‘and we are building a dossier’.