HARARE
—
Prominent
lawyer
Advocate
Thabani
Mpofu
has
accused
a
High
Court
judge
of
manufacturing
a
judgement
in
which
he
is
falsely
recorded
as
having
appeared
in
court.
In
a
letter
dated
July
30,
Advocate
Mpofu
wrote
to
the
Registrar
of
the
High
Court,
alleging
that
Justice
Never
Katiyo
fabricated
both
his
presence
and
arguments
in
a
ruling
handed
down
two
days
earlier
in
the
matter
of
Technoimpex
JSC
v
Rajendrakumar
Jogi
&
Others
(Case
No.
HCH6784/19).
“It
is
obviously
not
true
that
I
appeared
before
his
lordship
and
made
those
submissions.
In
my
view,
the
judgment
is
totally
made
up,”
wrote
Mpofu.
The
judgment,
issued
on
July
28,
states
that
Mpofu
represented
the
applicant,
Technoimpex
JSC,
and
outlines
legal
submissions
purportedly
made
by
him
in
response
to
objections
raised
by
the
respondents.
Yet
according
to
Mpofu,
not
only
did
he
not
appear
before
Justice
Katiyo,
but
the
matter
is
still
pending
—
scheduled
for
argument
on
September
15.
The
letter
has
been
copied
to
the
Chief
Justice,
the
Judge
President,
and
the
Executive
Secretary
of
the
Law
Society
of
Zimbabwe,
signaling
the
gravity
of
the
accusations.
“This
is
not
the
first
time
in
this
dispute
that
his
lordship
has
attributed
submissions
to
me
that
I
never
made
in
the
course
of
determining
matters
that
were
never
argued
before
him,”
Mpofu
added.
The
complaint
followed
a
letter
sent
to
Mpofu
by
Sinyoro
&
Partners,
the
law
firm
representing
the
applicant,
who
also
disavowed
any
knowledge
of
the
alleged
court
appearance.
“We
uplifted
the
judgment…
It
does
not
mention
a
date
of
hearing,
but
bears
the
Registrar’s
stamp
dated
28
July
2025,”
wrote
the
firm.
“We
are
not
aware
of
the
said
appearance
and
therefore
write
to
enquire
when
you
appeared
and
on
whose
instruction.”
The
judgement
itself
makes
no
mention
of
a
hearing
date
and
proceeds
directly
to
legal
analysis,
citing
company
law
principles
before
dismissing
the
matter
for
want
of
authority.
Central
to
Justice
Katiyo’s
ruling
is
the
finding
that
the
deponent
to
the
applicant’s
affidavit
was
not
properly
authorised
by
a
board
resolution,
a
procedural
misstep
that
the
court
found
fatal.
Mpofu’s
letter
has
sent
ripples
through
the
legal
community,
as
it
raises
troubling
implications
about
the
accuracy
and
authorship
of
judicial
decisions.
His
blunt
demand
—
that
the
judge
provide
an
explanation
as
to
why
his
name
was
inserted
into
the
judgment
—
marks
a
rare
public
challenge
to
judicial
conduct
in
Zimbabwe.
Legal
analysts
say
the
situation
could
trigger
a
tribunal
to
investigate
the
judge’s
fitness
to
stay
in
office
if
the
allegations
are
substantiated.
The
High
Court,
the
Judicial
Service
Commission,
and
Justice
Katiyo
have
not
yet
publicly
responded
to
the
allegations.
Justice
Katiyo,
a
former
magistrate
in
Chinhoyi
who
once
worked
as
legal
director
in
the
ministry
of
industry
and
commerce
was
appointed
as
a
judge
by
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa
in
2021.