VICE President Constantino Chiwenga has raised a complaint
against Judge President George Chiweshe after the judgment in a child custody
case was allegedly leaked to his estranged wife, Marry Mubaiwa, before being
officially handed down in court.
Justice Chiweshe is the head of the High Court in Zimbabwe.
VP Chiwenga, through his lawyers — Manase & Manase Legal Practitioners —
has written to Justice Chiweshe seeking
an explanation as to why the judgment in the child custody case was leaked to
Mubaiwa and a local newspaper, well before it was handed down in court.
Last Friday, the newspaper had banners all over the streets
announcing Mubaiwa’s victory in the children’s custody case, but the court only
officially handed the judgment down after 1030 the same day.
“The purpose of our writing is to register our client’s
complaint in the manner in which the judgment in the above matter has been
handled.
“The High Court, which is headed by yourself, may have
answers to the complaints raised by our client herein,” reads the letter.
Mubaiwa, according to the lawyers, is related to the Judge
President and the relationship was now prejudicing VP Chiwenga in the court
cases involving her estranged wife.
“Our client advises us that you are related to the
applicant Ms Marry Mubaiwa and she has made numerous bald assertions in public
that you are related and have sorted and influenced all matters involving her
in her favour to the prejudice of our client.
“We, with respect, wish to register our client’s concern
over allegations emanating from the said relationship with the applicant and
complain over the conduct of the applicant in accessing court judgments and
orders before they have been officially handed down to both litigants.
“These allegations are known by the Judicial Service
Commission (JSC), the lawyers for the applicant and various other parties which
we can divulge to you in confidence,” the letter reads.
On Friday, the letter further reads, Mubaiwa went to the
children’s school as early as 8am and demanded to see the children while armed
with a court order, well before judgment was handed down.
“The applicant in this matter attended the parties’
children’s school at 8am today (Friday January 24) armed with an order of this
court and stated to the school authorities that she had been granted an order
by the High Court to have access to the children.
“Our client telephoned us to inquire as to whether judgment
had been handed down in the matter to which we confirmed that the matter was
still pending and a diligent enquiry at the registry confirmed our position,”
reads the letter of complaint.
“We were then telephoned by the Honourable Justice
Dube-Banda’s clerk at 0927am advising us that the Honourable judge wished to
meet parties in chambers to hand down the judgment,” reads the letter.
VP Chiwenga wondered how Mubaiwa got to know of the outcome
before judgment hand been handed down.
“Could it be that there is a new system of handing down
judgments wherein litigants are given court orders before official
pronouncements?
“We also wonder why the said judgment, before it was handed
down, got publicised in the Independent newspaper advising the public that
Marry Mubaiwa had won the case she had filed,” said VP Chiwenga’s lawyers.
The lawyers asked for an explanation within 48 hours. They
argued that handing down of the judgment at 1030 was just a formality to
sanitise the illegality.
“The summoning of the parties at 1030am, in our respectful
view, was merely a formality to sanitise the blatant illegality that had
occurred, more particularly that the judgment had already been publicised in
the media and that applicant had used it to facilitate the taking of children
from school before it was handed down.
“Our client requests that you urgently revert to us within
48 hours upon receipt of this letter as he feels the system may have been
compromised,” reads the letter.
Justice Chiweshe is yet to respond to the issues raised by
the VP’s lawyers. Last week, Ms Mubaiwa won her High Court appeal for custody
of the couple’s three minor children and access to the matrimonial home.
But her joy was short-lived after VP Chiwenga filed a
notice of appeal at the Supreme Court, challenging the lower court’s decision.
The filing of a notice of appeal effectively suspends the court ruling until determination
of the appeal.
Justice Christopher Dube-Banda ordered that the custody of
children be restored to Mubaiwa and barred the Vice President from interfering
with her access to the Borrowdale Brooke house they shared before their
fallout.
Mubaiwa had sought the intervention of the High Court after
the children were taken from her and she was barred from the Borrowdale Brooke
matrimonial home following the couple’s fallout.
“The respondent is hereby ordered to restore the custody of
the minor children, namely Tendai Dominique Chiwenga (born 4 November 2011),
Christian Tawanazororo Chiwenga (born 15 November 2012) and Michael Alexander
Chiwenga (born 13 February 2014) to the custody of the applicant within 24
hours of this order,” ruled Justice Dube-Banda.
“The respondent is hereby ordered and restrained from
interfering with applicant’s access to use and enjoyment of the property known
as 614 Nick Price Drive, Borrowdale Brooke, Borrowdale, Harare.”
VP Chiwenga was also restrained from blocking Mubaiwa from
accessing the vehicles.
However, the VP filed a notice of appeal, outlining errors
he says the High Court made in the matter. Herald
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