Deputy Chief Justice Luke Malaba reportedly attained the highest marks in the interviews held by the Judicial Services Commission, as part of the process to choose the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to succeed Godfrey Chidyausiku.
According to the Zimbabwe Independent, DCJ Luke Malaba scored 91 per cent.
Luke Malaba was followed closely by Justice Rita Makarau who has 90 per cent, Justice Paddington Garwe scored 52 per cent while Judge President George Chiweshe was absent from the interviews.
The marks have since been forwarded to Vice President and Minister of Justice, Parliamentary and Legal Affairs, Emmerson Mnangagwa, who will in turn, forward the results to the President.
The President will then have to choose one of the three names as the next Chief Justice. However, Mnangagwa is against this process and wants to amend the Constitution. He said:
This is a constitutional crisis that we were going to encounter whether now or in the near future. We did not agree with this during the constitution-making process, but we compromised for the sake of progress.
The president will nominate three judges whose names will be submitted to the JSC. The role of the JSC would be to vet and scrutinise the suitability of each of the three judges. The JSC will then submit a report of their findings to the head of state who will then appoint one of the three as the new chief justice.
Mnangagwa denied allegations that he is pushing for the amendment of the constitution because he has a preferred candidate saying there was no way he could interfere with the process since it is President Robert Mugabe who makes the appointments.
More: Pindula News; Independent