By Zweli Martin Dlamini
Africa-Press – Eswatini. Judges must not be allowed to manipulate the law and the power of the judiciary to fight their own battles hence His Lordship Judge Titus Mlangeni must be called to order.
Lawyer Mangaliso Magagula recently filed an application for recusal against Judge Titus Mlangeni and,on behalf of his client Issufomia Issufo Calu,the owner of Mahhala Big Tree Complex who is now behind bars after being convicted by the Judge on contempt of court charges.
But because businessman Calu is now unjustly behind bars and cannot speak for himself and criticize the Judge, as the editor,I will try to put the matter into proper perspective, Judge Mlangeni is abusing his judicial powers.
The Judge accused the businessman of defying a court order, directing him not to remove assets within his Mahhala Big Tree Complex amid the legal battle with Galp Eswatini.
But even before Calu could be accused of contempt of court, we need to first take into account the events that unfolded,leading to the Mahhala Big Tree Complex owner’s arrest and whether the Judge was fair in the first place.
Businessman Calu was renting at Big Tree Complex,operating a filling and thereafter,he was frustrated by Galp Eswatini after the supplier refused to supply him with fuel but, seeking to kick him out of business,he approached the court with no legal redress.
But the businessman subsequently purchased the Big Tree Complex and as the new owner of the property,he took a business decision to evict Galp Eswatini and the Filling Station from his premises because, he no longer had a business relationship with Galp, he was seeking to engage another company to run a new Filling Station within the premises of his property.
Now,the very same court that failed to be fair and protect Calu while being persecuted by Galp Eswatini, decided to jail and further prevent the businessman from evicting Galp at his Big Tree Complex,is that justice?.
It is important to state that,even before we accuse individuals of defying court orders, we must first establish the facts behind and,whether the court order was fair and just.
It’s true that orders of the court must be respected but, those court orders but be a product of justice and/or fairness.
Calu engaged the legal services of lawyer Mangaliso Magagula, the Chairperson of the Law Society of Eswatini(LSS) who is known within the legal circles as a legal practitioner who hates corruption.
Judge Mlangeni subsequently clashed with the lawyer and, we have reasons to conclude that,by jailing the businessman,the Judge was fixing lawyer Mangaliso Magagula.
This is exactly what happened to Lobamba Member of Parliament(MP) Allen Steward who criticized the leadership of Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala.
MP Steward’s attempted murder case file dating back to fifteen(15) years ago and with no convincing evidence,was dusted and,he was quickly sent to prison and destroyed by the CJ.
Clearly, some Judges are cruel and now abusing the courts to fight their own battles.
Businessman Calu has been persecuted by the judiciary in the matter between Galp Eswatini and his Big Tree Complex and as the situation stands,we cannot rule-out the possibilities of bribery in this whole legal battle as the matter involves millions.
Judge Mlangeni was recently asked or requested by lawyer Mangaliso Magagula to recuse himself in the matter but instead of upholding the judicial code of conduct,he opted to abuse his judicial powers and jail businesssman Issufomia Issufo Calu,this must be condemned because these Judges are capable of unjustly jailing anyone while abusing their judicial powers.
Indeed, the Big Tree Complex owner has been jailed unjustly, there’s absolutely no contempt of court in this matter but,Judge Titus Mlangeni abused his powers.
Jailing a businessman for three(3) months just to prove that, you are powerful as a Judge, is not in any way,in the interest of justice but our judiciary is fast becoming a ‘mafia’ syndicate where the game of financial power is played by powerful capitalists and it’s very unfortunate.
Jobs were lost as the legal battle between Galp Eswatini and businessman Calu resulted to the closure of the Filling Station and now,the owner of the Complex has been jailed by Judge Titus Mlangeni without convincing reasons.
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