Zim extends judges’ tenure despite opposition

HARARE: Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has extended the tenure of the chief justice by five years following contentious changes to the constitution that allowed for the extension and are being challenged in court by lawyers.

Chief Justice Luke Malaba had been due to retire on Saturday when he turns 70, but Mnangagwa’s ruling ZANU-PF party used its majority in parliament to amend the constitution, allowing the president to extend the retirement age of senior judges to 75 years.

In a statement, the chief secretary to the cabinet said Mnangagwa had accepted a medical report from Malaba, which showed the top judge had the “mental and physical fitness to continue in that office”.

But lawyers and the opposition say the amendment that allowed

Malaba to continue in office and empower Mnangagwa to appoint judges of the Constitutional and Supreme Courts was a violation of the country’s charter.