Supreme Court judge, Justice Francis Bere, is in trouble
over allegations that he interfered with a pending civil court case involving
the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) and his relatives.
President Mnangagwa has since set up a three-member
tribunal to inquire into his fitness to continue holding the esteemed office.
The tribunal will be chaired by retired judge Justice Simbi
Mubako. Justice Mubako will work with two lawyers — Advocate Takawira Nzombe
and Mrs Rekayi Maphosa.
In a document seen by The Herald, Chief Secretary to the
President and Cabinet Dr Misheck Sibanda said the inquiry would start after the
swearing in of members of the tribunal.
“Please be advised that His Excellency, the President has
appointed a Tribunal to inquire into the question of removal from office of
Honourable Justice Francis Bere,” said Dr Sibanda in the document.
“The inquiry is expected to commence soon after the
swearing in of the members and is to be concluded within three months from date
of commencement.”
Justice Bere, according to information gathered by The
Herald, reportedly telephoned Zinara lawyer Mr Itai Ndudzo of Mutamangira and
Associates, asking him to consider settling a civil dispute pitting Zinara and
Fremus Enterprises (owned by the judge’s relatives).
The complaint was first raised before Deputy Chief Justice
Elizabeth Gwaunza during a court hearing before Mr Ndudzo was asked to make the
complaint in writing.
“The learned judge, indeed contacted me telephonically,”
said Mr Ndudzo.
“The commercial dispute between my client (Zinara) and
Fremus Enterprises Pvt Ltd was discussed in the course of the conversation.
“The learned judge’s relatives are co-directors of Fremus
Enterprises Pvt Ltd. The learned judge inquired whether or not there would be
possibility of payment being expedited to Fremus Pvt Ltd.
“I declined the request and the conversation ended abruptly
on that note.” Justice Bere responded to the complaint denying the
allegations.
In a response to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), he
said he only contacted Mr Ndudzo in the context of their personal relationship
dating back to the days when they were both members of the Zimbabwe Football
Association (ZIFA) Ethics Committee.
“In 2015, I was chairman of the ZIFA ethics committee and
Mr Ndudzo was legal advisor to ZIFA,” he said. “We developed a personal
relationship through ZIFA.
“I spoke to Mr Ndudzo in the context of the said personal
relationship before litigation had commenced, and in circumstances wherein
litigation was not apparent.
“This was prior to my transfer to Bulawayo High Court to
head that court following the passing on of the late Mr Justice Mutema.”
Justice Bere said he visited his aunt, who, together with
her husband, are co-directors of Fremus Enterprises.
“My aunt was critically ill,” he said. “The directors of
Fremus wished to take my aunt to South Africa for immediate medical attention,
but did not have the required resources.
“In talking to them, my sister’s husband disclosed that if
only Mr Ndudzo had honoured his promise to release money owed to Fremus, they
would not have been in that predicament.”
Justice Bere said he was relieved that his relatives were
talking about Mr Ndudzo whom he knew through interaction at ZIFA.
“I reacted by immediately calling Mr Ndudzo whose number I
already had by reason of the personal relationship we had developed,” he said.
“I inquired of him, whether or not there was any
possibility of him expediting the payment to Fremus given the dire situation at
hand.”
Justice Bere described the complaint as a falsehood meant
to taint his clean record.
“In this exciting phase that we are in as a country, and in
view of the much spoken about confrontation against the vice of corruption,
there will always be excitable individuals who would wish to create some
relevance in this noble fight,” he said.
“They are the greatest threat to this noble endeavour and
stand in the path of, and indeed in this way obstruct, the genuine fight
against corruption. It is in this spirit that the false complaint against me
must be looked at.”
Mr Ndudzo, in a follow up letter, stuck to his story,
saying he had no reason to frame Justice Bere.
“My client is a public institution to which the value of
the matter would not in any way diminish its standing even in the face of an
adverse outcome,” he said.
“There would under those circumstances, have been no reason
or incentive for me to make unfounded allegations against the learned judge in
the name of deriving an advantage.”
Mr Ndudzo denied having a personal relationship with
Justice Bere, saying he was surprised to receive a call from him.
“I was not a legal advisor to ZIFA in the period in
question (2015) and could not have developed a personal relationship with the
learned judge based on this assertion,” he said.
“For the sake of completeness, I did not hitherto form a personal
relationship with the learned judge even after I became legal advisor of ZIFA
in 2016.
“It was against this backdrop that I was startled upon
receiving the telephone call from the learned judge in 2017 as I had not had
any prior communication with him.”
Meanwhile, Justice Bere has made headlines in the news over
other allegations of conflict of interest in a ruling he made in the more than
$2 million consultancy dispute between the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed
Meikles Limited and Widefree Investments.
Widefree is linked to industrialist Mr Joseph Kanyekanye, a
long standing client of Bere Brothers, a law firm founded by the judge.
Chief Justice Luke Malaba recently ordered investigations
into alleged violation of judicial ethical conduct by Justice Bere after
Meikles executive chairman Mr John Moxon filed a complaint with the Judicial
Service Commission (JSC) that Justice Bere was conflicted in giving a ruling
against Meikles under Case Number SC 503 /18.
Meikles, which entered into a consultancy agreement with
Widefree Investments trading as Core Solutions in December 2013, lost the case
both at the High Court and Supreme Court.
The obligation of the agreement was that Core Solutions
would assist Meikles in recovering funds owed by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
Chief Justice Malaba acknowledged receipt of the complaint
against Justice Bere, saying it raised issues relating to ethical conduct of
the imputed judge and ordered investigations into his conduct.
“We acknowledge receipt of your letter dated September 20,
2018 addressed to Honourable Chief Justice, which has been referred to the
Chief Justice for response,” read the letter dated September 28, 2018 and
signed by Ms Anita Tshuma, the registrar of the Constitutional and Supreme
Court.
“The Chief Justice has requested us to inform you that your
complaint raises issues relating to the ethical conduct of the judicial officer
concerned, which will need to be investigated by the Judicial Ethics Advisory
Committee.”
In a letter written to Chief Justice Malaba in September
2018, Mr Moxon said he had information of Mr Kanyekanye’s links with Justice
Bere. Herald
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