“The
application for civil imprisonment for the first respondent (Malaba) contempt
of court is dismissed,” read the operative part of the judgment by Justice Amy
Tsanga.
Two judges
Justices — Amy Tsanga and Slyvia Chirawu-Mugomba— heard the matter after
Justice Webster Chinamora recused himself from the original three-judge bench
citing professional reasons.
The contempt
court legal proceedings were sparked by the return of the Chief Justice to work
on the strength of appeals being noted to the Supreme Court challenging the May
15 High Court decision that neither Chief Justice Malaba nor any other sitting
judge of the Constitutional or Supreme Courts had the option laid out in the
latest constitutional amendment to extend their term of office until they were
75.
The three High
Court judges said only sitting High Court judges had that option. The ruling
was made on the Chief Justice’s 70th birthday, so he promptly stood aside.
But once
appeals were noted by the Attorney General and the Minister of Home Affairs and
Cultural Heritage the following week, he then followed the standard legal
procedures, that noting an appeal stays a judgment, and returned to work.
This upset the
executive director of Forum, Mr Musa Kika, who as one of the applicants in the
original urgent application, rushed to the High Court seeking the finding that
the Chief Justice was in contempt of court and seeking a six-month jail term,
although he is prepared to see that suspended so long as the Chief Justice
stands aside. Herald
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