THE Constitutional Court has clocked six months after it reserved judgment in a case in which former High Court judge Justice Erica Ndewere is challenging her dismissal.
The Constitutional Court has taken more than 161 days to date to decide on her case, instead of 90 days.
Justice Ndewere was dismissed over a litany of allegations that include failing to deliver a judgment in three months and misconduct.
She denied all the allegations.
In her application against dismissal, Ndewere claimed that she was victimised for refusing to obey Chief Justice Luke Malaba’s unlawful instructions on political cases involving politician Job Sikhala and former Cabinet minister Priscah Mupfumira that were before her.
Ndewere filed her 2 000-page document of application for reinstatement with the Constitutional Court on May 15, 2024 and her judgment has not been delivered to date.
The former judge was dismissed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in June 2020 on the recommendations of a tribunal chaired by retired judge, Justice Simbi Mubako.
She lost a few cases in the High Court and Supreme Court, and later approached the Constitutional Court seeking reinstatement.
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She wants the highest court in the land to set aside her dismissal on constitutional grounds.
Ndewere claimed in her application that she was discriminated against in the way she was treated by the Chief Justice.
She also wants the Judicial Service Commission to treat her in the same way as her other colleagues in terms of disciplinary processes.
Ndewere told the Constitutional Court that it was discriminatory and unlawful for her to be punished out of 17 other judges that were identified by the Chief Justice with similar offences.
She cited judges who were charged for gross misconduct such as Justices Francis Bere, Thompson Mabhikwa and Martin Makonese.
She said she was denied the same opportunity granted to her colleagues to be heard.
Ndewere also cited the case of former judge Webster Chinamora, who admitted to releasing a convict improperly in a case that was not before him, and was allowed to rescind his judgment.
Chinamora eventually resigned after he was brought before a tribunal, but recently he was appointed as chairman of the Independent Complaints Commission.
The case was heard before a full bench of the Constitutional Court which was chaired by Justice Paddington Garwe.
