HARARE – President Emmerson Mnangagwa has appointed a tribunal to look into Supreme Court judge Francis Bere’s fitness to hold office after a lawyer accused him of interference in a civil case.
It is the second time that Justice Bere has faced an ethics inquiry after being cleared in January last year over a conflict of interest complaint filed by Meikles chairman, John Moxon.
Mnangagwa has picked retired judge Simbi Mubako assisted by lawyers Advocate Takawira Nzombe and Rekayi Maphosa to investigate the judge.
In the latest complaint, lawyer Itai Ndudzo of Mutamangira and Associates, acting for the Zimbabwe Road Administration (Zinara), says the judge called him on his phone requesting that he settles a civil dispute between the roads agency and a company called Fremus Enterprises, which is allegedly owned by the judge’s relatives.
Ndudzo made the claim during a court hearing, prompting Deputy Chief Justice Elizabeth Gwaunza to advise him to file a formal complaint.
In his complaint, Ndudzo said: “The learned judge indeed contacted me telephonically. The commercial dispute between my client (Zinara) and Fremus Enterprises Pvt Ltd was discussed in the course of the conversation.
“The learned judge’s relatives are co-directors of Fremus Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd. The learned judge inquired whether or not there would be possibility of payment being expedited to Fremus (Pvt) Ltd.
“I declined the request and the conversation ended abruptly on that note.”
Justice Bere denies Ndudzo’s account. Instead, he says it was a purely social discussion flowing from their personal relationship dating back to the time when they both sat on the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) ethics committee.
In a statement on Monday, Cabinet Secretary Misheck Sibanda said: “Please be advised that His Excellency, the President has appointed a Tribunal to inquire into the question of removal from office of Honourable Justice Francis Bere.
“The inquiry is expected to commence soon after the swearing in of the members and is to be concluded within three months from date of commencement.”
The tribunal will make a recommendation to Mnangagwa at the conclusion of the hearings.
In January last year, a panel of four judges appointed by Chief Justice Luke Malaba cleared Justice Bere of professional misconduct over a ruling he made in a consultancy dispute between Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed Meikles Limited and Widefree Investments involving more than $2 million.
Widefree is linked to industrialist Joseph Kanyekanye, a long standing client of Bere Brothers, a law firm founded by the judge.
Chief Justice Malaba had ordered an investigation into alleged violation of judicial ethical conduct by Justice Bere after Moxon filed a complaint with the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) that Justice Bere was conflicted in giving a ruling against Meikles.
Meikles, which entered into a consultancy agreement with Widefree Investments trading as Core Solutions in December 2013, lost the case both at the High Court and Supreme Court.
In its findings, the four-member Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee chaired by Constitutional and Supreme Court judge Rita Makarau, ruled that there was no evidence suggesting that Justice Bere was aware of the client-legal practitioner relationship between Widefree and Bere Brothers.
Justice Bere was recently hailed for a judgement awarding civil damages to a transgender rights activist, Ricky Nathanson, who was arrested and humiliated by police in Bulawayo accused of using a ladies’ toilet in a nightclub.
In a landmark judgment that for the first time recognised another gender other than male or female, Justice Bere said transgender people did not choose to be that way.
The judge said: “For three days, the plaintiff (Nathanson) in this case was not only deprived of her liberty, but was subjected to forced anatomical examination in the most crude and naked manner by adventurous members of the police.
“As if that was not enough, she was then subjected to further invasive examination by two doctors at two different medical institutions all because of her transgender status, something that she did not invite upon herself.”
Nathanson was acquitted in 2017 on charges of criminal nuisance after Bulawayo magistrate Abednico Ndebele ruled that it was not a crime for a man to enter a women’s toilet, or vice versa. He then sued the police, leading to Bere’s judgement delivered in November last year.
The former Bulawayo High Court judge said “police officers are not expected to hysterically respond to calls of the arrest of suspects” in a judgement that won him international praise.
