CORRUPTION AT THE HIGH COURT

The Harare High Court has been hit by allegations of corruption involving a disputed US$2 million estate.

The Herald reports that a Judicial Service Commission probe has revealed that two local companies, Sales Cooperation (Private) Limited and Samalyn Investments (Private) Limited, had a default judgment unfairly handed down against them, resulting from alleged manipulation of court records by some High Court officials.

According to the JSC probe report, the officials conspired to alter court rolls, incorrectly placing the companies’ opposing papers on an “unopposed” roll, despite the ongoing dispute over the estate.

The companies had bought the estate from a deceased person before an aggrieved party approached the court seeking to cancel the deed of transfer. The JSC accused the law firm, Warhurst & Matizanadzo, of colluding with High Court officials to manipulate the documents.

A partner at the firm later denied the allegations, expressing outrage at the JSC’s findings.

The case has been reported to the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) and several key Judiciary offices.

In a response to a complaint filed by the companies’ representative, Darryn Williams Blumears, Ms Bianca Makwande, head of policy and legal services at the JSC, confirmed the allegations of misconduct against Warhurst & Matizanadzo.

“Your complaint relates to the conduct of legal practitioners Warhurst & Matizanadzo, who corruptly and fraudulently obtained a default judgment against Sales Cooperation (Private) Limited and Samalyn Investments (Private) Limited by misrepresenting to the Court that the matter was unopposed. This was with assistance of High Court civil division registry official(s), who besides being aware that opposing papers had been filed, proceeded to place the matter on an unopposed roll.

“A perusal of the file indicates that a court application for reversal of cancellation of the deed of transfer was filed in the High Court by Messrs Warhurst & Matizanadzo on 27 September 2019. Your averment that the matter was improperly placed on the unopposed roll is correct because the first and fifth respondents had duly filed their opposing papers,” Ms Makwande said.

One of the High Court officials involved has left their position, while the remaining official, interrogated by the JSC, claimed ignorance of the matter.

The official, identified as Stone, denied the allegations and criticised the JSC’s investigation as “procedurally unfair,” claiming it violated her right to be heard.

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