Luke Malaba (born 15 May 1951) is a

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

an judge and the current

Chief Justice of Zimbabwe The Chief Justice of Zimbabwe is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe. As such, he is head of the Zimbabwe judiciary. Per Section 168 of the Zimbabwean Constitution, the Chief Justice is assisted by a Deputy Chief Justice and no fe ...

since March 2017. He was appointed Chief Justice by then-President

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...

on 27 March 2017. However, he had already been serving as acting Chief Justice since 1 March 2017, following Justice

Godfrey Chidyausiku Godfrey Guwa Chidyausiku (23 February 1947 – 3 May 2017) was a Zimbabwean judge and politician. He was involved in politics during Rhodesia's unilaterally declared independence, being a member of the Rhodesia House of Assembly. After Zimbabwean ...

‘s retirement. Previously, he had served as Deputy Chief Justice.

Biography

Luke Malaba was born in Plumtree,

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...

on 15 May 1951. He attended St. Ignatius College in Chishawasha. He received his law degree from the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

in 1974, and another law degree from the

University of Zimbabwe The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) is a public university in Harare, Zimbabwe. It opened in 1952 as the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and was initially affiliated with the University of London. It was later renamed the University o ...

in 1982. From 1981 to 1984, he served as a prosecutor in

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council cl ...

. He started his career as a magistrate in 1984 at

Masvingo Masvingo is a city in south-eastern Zimbabwe and the capital of Masvingo Province. The city is situated close to Great Zimbabwe, the national monument from which the country takes its name and close to Lake Mutirikwi, its recreational park, th ...

. He attained the rank of regional magistrate in 1990. He was appointed as a judge of the High Court in 1994, serving until 2001. He was elevated to the Supreme Court in August 2001, and became the country’s first Deputy Chief Justice in 2008.

Chief Justice of Zimbabwe

Following the retirement of

, Malaba was appointed Acting Chief Justice on 1 March 2017. During interviews to become the Chief Justice, he scored 92 percent, achieving the highest score of those interviewed. He assumed the office on 27 March 2017. In July 2018, Malaba ruled that former President Robert Mugabe had freely resigned, and was not coerced. The Chief Justice, in a unanimous Supreme Court decision in August 2018, concurred with the other eight justices of the court, in a ruling that president

Emmerson Mnangagwa Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa (, American English, US: (); born 15 September 1942) is a Zimbabwean politician who has served as President of Zimbabwe since 24 November 2017. A member of ZANU–PF and a longtime ally of former President Robert Muga ...

's July 2018 election was lawfully conducted, and had "complied with prescribed procedures", dismissing the political opposition's claims to the contrary.

Retirement controversy

Under the Zimbabwean constitution, Chief Justice Malaba was required to retire when he reached 70 years of age on 15 May 2021. However Amendment 2 to the Constitution increased the age limit to 75 in early May 2021 allowing him to remain in office. There are questions around the constitutionality of this amendment. On 15 May 2021 the High Court of Zimbabwe retired Malaba as the chief justice and ruled his extension of office was unconstitutional. This judgement was appealed in the constitutional court which overruled the high court decision. The effort to keep him in office was likely sponsored by Zimbabwean President

, as Malaba had made two significant rulings in his favour. Firstly, he had legitimised the coup that had ousted Robert Mugabe, and secondly, he had quashed a legal challenge to the outcome of the 2018 Zimbabwean general election. In the event that there are electoral challenges in the 2023 election, Mnangagwa would prefer to have a favourable judge presiding.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malaba, Luke 1951 births Living people 20th-century Zimbabwean judges 21st-century Zimbabwean judges Alumni of the University of Warwick Chief justices of Zimbabwe Judges of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe People from Matabeleland South Province University of Zimbabwe alumni