HARARE
–
Chief
Justice
Luke
Malaba
bade
farewell
to
the
bench
at
a
special
sitting
of
the
Constitutional
Court
on
Wednesday,
closing
a
judicial
career
spanning
more
than
four
decades,
though
his
legacy
will
be
forever
shadowed
by
the
controversial
extension
of
his
tenure
that
many
lawyers
and
civil
society
groups
said
undermined
the
very
constitutional
order
he
was
sworn
to
uphold.
Malaba
turns
75
on
Thursday,
the
revised
retirement
age
introduced
after
Zanu
PF
amended
the
constitution
in
2021
to
allow
him
to
remain
in
office
beyond
the
then-limit
of
70,
which
he
had
already
reached
in
May
of
that
year.
The
extension
was
fiercely
contested,
drawing
legal
challenges
and
accusations
that
the
ruling
party
had
manipulated
the
constitution
to
retain
a
favourable
chief
justice
at
a
politically
sensitive
time.
The
controversy
has
never
fully
dissipated,
and
it
hangs
over
an
otherwise
distinguished
career.
Malaba’s
retirement
now
comes
at
another
moment
of
constitutional
tension
–
Zanu
PF
is
pushing
through
the
Constitutional
Amendment
(No.
3)
Bill,
which
seeks
to
extend
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa’s
second
and
final
term
from
2028
to
2030,
a
matter
that
has
triggered
several
challenges
before
the
Constitutional
Court.
Born
on
May
15,
1951,
in
Kezi,
Matabeleland
South,
Malaba
obtained
a
law
degree
from
the
University
of
Warwick
in
1974
and
a
second
from
the
University
of
Zimbabwe
in
1982.
He
began
his
legal
career
as
a
prosecutor
before
being
appointed
a
magistrate
in
1984,
serving
in
Masvingo,
Bulawayo
and
Harare
before
rising
to
Regional
Magistrate.
In
1994
he
was
appointed
a
judge
of
the
High
Court,
and
in
2001
elevated
to
the
Supreme
Court
as
a
judge
of
appeal.
Between
2005
and
2016
he
also
served
as
a
judge
of
the
COMESA
Court
of
Justice,
contributing
to
regional
jurisprudence.
In
2008
he
became
the
first
Deputy
Chief
Justice
of
Zimbabwe,
a
position
he
held
until
2017
when
he
was
appointed
Chief
Justice
–
head
of
the
judiciary,
chairperson
of
the
Judicial
Service
Commission
and
chairperson
of
the
Council
of
the
Judicial
College.
His
bench
appearances
included
the
2016
landmark
Constitutional
Court
judgement
outlawing
child
marriages,
a
ruling
Deputy
Chief
Justice
Elizabeth
Gwaunza,
who
delivered
his
biography
at
Wednesday’s
sitting,
described
as
“a
powerful
affirmation
of
the
rights
and
dignity
of
children
in
Zimbabwe.”
As
chief
justice,
Malaba
championed
the
construction
of
courthouses
across
the
country,
simplified
court
procedures
and
expanded
the
number
of
judicial
officers.
His
most
cited
institutional
achievement
is
the
Integrated
Electronic
Case
Management
System,
launched
in
phases
from
May
2022
and
now
covering
all
superior
courts,
with
rollout
into
the
magistrates’
courts
continuing
beyond
his
retirement.
In
2024,
Zimbabwe
hosted
the
Seventh
Congress
of
the
Conference
of
Constitutional
Jurisdictions
of
Africa,
after
which
Malaba
assumed
the
presidency
of
the
continental
body.
“Your
legacy
is
not
confined
to
the
judgements
you
have
written
or
the
offices
you
have
held,”
Gwaunza
told
him
at
Wednesday’s
sitting.
“It
lives
in
the
systems
you
have
built,
the
standards
you
have
set
and
the
people
you
have
inspired.”
Yet
it
is
the
2021
constitutional
amendment
– and
Malaba’s
acquiescence
in
a
process
that
extended
his
own
term
–
that
critics
say
will
define
how
history
remembers
him.
The
extension
was
challenged
in
the
courts
and
condemned
by
lawyers,
opposition
parties
and
civil
society
as
a
nakedly
political
manoeuvre.
The
episode
raised
enduring
questions
about
judicial
independence
and
whether
the
chief
justice,
by
accepting
the
benefit
of
an
amendment
pushed
through
by
the
executive,
had
compromised
the
integrity
of
the
office
he
held.
Those
questions
were
never
definitively
answered
and
remain
part
of
his
record.
Malaba
retires
to
what
Gwaunza
described
as
two
great
passions:
reading
and
ranching.
He
is
survived,
in
institutional
terms,
by
a
judiciary
whose
independence
will
face
its
next
major
test
in
the
constitutional
battles
over
the
Amendment
Bill
he
leaves
behind.
Several
judges
of
the
Constitutional
Court,
including
Gwaunza,
are
beneficiaries
of
the
“Malaba
Amendment”
after
reaching
the
age
of
70
and
securing
extensions.
In
the
coming
weeks,
they
will
sit
in
judgement
over
Mnangagwa’s
own
attempt
to
stay
on
–
an
illustration
of
the
judicial
mess
Malaba
leaves
behind.
Malaba
will
be
replaced
by
Gwaunza,
who
becomes
the
country’s
first
female
Chief
Justice.
Justice
Paddington
Garwe
replaces
Gwaunza
as
Deputy
Chief
Justice.