The JSC secretariat has referred the absenteeism case to
the commissioners.
Justice Mushore last reported for duty on June 14 last year
and has yet to give a formal explanation. Judges cannot be absent from work for
more than three days without official leave and if unwell are asked to send in
a doctor’s report so they are granted sick leave.
Efforts by her superiors in the judiciary to get an
explanation from Justice Mushore, and invitations for her to send her driver
with a doctor’s report, have been in vain and no one from the JSC has been able
to gain admittance to her home.
JSC Secretary Mr Walter Chikwana confirmed the latest
development.
“Justice Mushore’s absenteeism case is now before the
commission. Since June 14, the judge never reported for duty. It’s now seven
months since she last came to work and the commissioners are set to deliberate
on the issue and map the way forward,” said Mr Chikwana.
The Judge President of the High Court has since allocated
Justice Mushore’s cases to other judges to ensure the litigants get justice
within reasonable time.
Justice Edith Mushore is attached to the Family Law Court
at the High Court. When asked initially for an explanation she indicated she
was unwell but she has not sent a sick note. Three separate letters were
written by her superiors at the High Court asking her to at least send a driver
with the doctor’s note, but without success.
The head of the High Court’s family law division, her
immediate superior, in June last year wrote Justice Mushore a letter asking her
to explain her absence from work.
A month later, the Judge President of the High Court wrote
again to Justice Mushore reminding her that her absence from work without
official explanation amounts to misconduct. She was even asked to send her
driver with the sick note but to no avail.
On August 12 last year, the Judge President informed Chief
Justice Luke Malaba of the development and he then sought an explanation from
Justice Mushore in writing but up to now she has not responded.
In June, the motion court failed to sit after Justice
Mushore did not attend. She then failed to attend to a chamber application that
had been allocated to her and this had to be hurriedly transferred when her
assistant sent the file to the Judge President.
At one time, she reportedly told her seniors at the High
Court that she was contemplating resignation but no resignation has so far been
tendered. Justice Mushore was appointed to the bench in 2015.
Before her appointment as a judge, she worked as a legal
practitioner in private legal practice. Herald
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