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Harare Bureau
President Mnangagwa has appointed retired judge Justice November Mtshiya to chair the tribunal to investigate the suitability of suspended High Court Judge Justice Thompson Mabhikwa to hold a judicial office and extended the life span of the tribunal by another six months.

Justice Mtshiya takes over after Justice Mafios Cheda has recused himself from the probe on the grounds that he is related to the woman at the centre of the intimate affair with the judge in question.

The tribunal to investigate Justice Mabhikwa was established in June this year after pressure had been mounting on the Bulawayo-based judge to step down to preserve the integrity and dignity of the bench following reports he was allegedly involved in an intimate affair with a staff member at the High Court.

In a Statutory Instrument 233 of 21 published this week, President Mnangagwa rung changes to the composition of the three-member panel to the tribunal and brought in Justice Mtshiya in terms of the powers vested in him as the Head of State and Government.

The three-member panel also include Mr Chaka Mashoko, a lecturer of Procedural Law and Advocate Phillipa Magnify Philips, a practising lawyer.

At the time of appointing the tribunal members in June this year, President Mnangagwa said the panel should investigate whether Justice Mabhikwa’s conduct “can be deemed to have been tantamount to gross misconduct.”

He also proclaimed that the Tribunal should “investigate whether or not the Honourable Justice Mabhikwa (a) committed acts of sexual harassment (b) possessed pornographic material… and to investigate any other matter which the tribunal may deem appropriate and relevant to the question of removal from office of a judge in terms of the law” and report the findings of its inquiry within three months with a recommendation “on whether the Honourable Judge is fit to hold office.”

Investigations into the judge’s alleged intimate affair with a member of the support staff in Bulawayo, Ms Oratile Nare, came after nude pictures and raunchy WhatsApp messages, allegedly from the judge’s phone, circulated on social media.

The judge is a widower.

Allegations are that Justice Mabhikwa and Ms Nare, an assistant of fellow Bulawayo judge Justice Maxwell Takuva, have been in an intimate relationship and that Ms Nare, jealous over what she allegedly believes is another lover of the judge, reportedly forwarded what are described as the judge’s exchanges with the other woman to almost all his contacts, including a judges’ group.

Ms Nare had reportedly gone through Justice Mabhikwa’s phone sometime during the night and discovered that the judge had sent pictures of his body to another woman only identified as Petty or Patie.