Africa-Press – Lesotho. The uncertainty on the status of acting Justice Charles Hungwe of the High Court has been cleared following the extension of his contract by four months.
On Monday the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) renewed his contract and it is expected to end on February 28, 2022. These developments were revealed by the Registrar of the
High Court and Appeal Court Advocate ‘Mathato Sekoai in an interview with Informative Newspaper yesterday. Zimbabwe’s Judge was engaged to hear the ongoing “high
profile” cases in the High Court. He is amongst the two other Judges, Justices Kabelo Lebotse and Onkemetse Tshosa both from Botswana, who have since tendered their
resignation. Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) shoulders the responsibility of paying his salary. The EU Delegation to Lesotho has recently said: “The
Delegation of the European Union reaffirms its commitment to free and fair trials in Lesotho. Its support to case handling and the recruitment of foreign
judges to serve in a number of high profile cases first through SADC [Southern African Community Development] and currently through UNDP [United Nations
Development Programme] exclusively serves the aforementioned objective. In the same perspective, the EU Delegation has expressed support for the consideration
of mechanisms of transitional justice, to guarantee also compensation to the victims and closure for the communities affected. ” Since the expiration of his contract at the end of October,
Justice Hungwe could not appear before the court, a move which prompted the case he is presiding over to be postponed. Some of the cases he is hearing include that of the
murder of Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) Lieutenant General Maaparankoe Mahao and the murder of Police Constable Mokalekale Khetheng. The “high profile” cases are the outcome of the findings
and recommendations of the report published by SADC following its investigations in 2015 which sought to establish the circumstances leading to the death of the former LDF Lieutenant-General Mahao who was allegedly killed by
his juniors on June 25, 2015. These “high profile” cases have been heard for about four years and there is no one who has been charged. There had been successive
litigations that hindered their progress causing the delay. The local think tank and human rights advocacy body, Transformation Resource Centre (TRC) had earlier this month released a
statement expressing concern over the status of Judge Hungwe’s contract, saying the details surrounding him “adds to an ocean of judicial problems”. “It is the Centre’s honest wish that the judiciary is not
set up for failure by the Government in order to justify the unjustified transitional justice commission with politicians seek in order to have guaranteed impunity,” reads the TRC statement in pertinent part.
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