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Justice Ndou working in Namibia

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FORMER Bulwayo High Court judge Justice Nicholas Ndou has been handling prominent cases in Namibia after he was appointed acting judge of that country’s High Court last year.

FORMER Bulwayo High Court judge Justice Nicholas Ndou has been handling prominent cases in Namibia after he was appointed acting judge of that country’s High Court last year.

SENIOR REPORTER

Justice Ndou’s resignation from the bench was announced by Judge President George Chiweshe at the official opening of the 2013 legal year at Bulawayo High Court on Monday.

Before his departure, the judge was handling the Mthwakazi Liberation Front (MLF) activists’ treason trial.

Judgment in the case is yet to be delivered raising fears from the accused’s lawyers that their rights will be violated by the delays.

MLF activists — Paul Siwela (49), Charles Thomas (44) and John Gazi (54) — are awaiting judgment following their application for discharge filed in October last year.

Justice Ndou’s resignation left the Bulawayo High Court bench with four judges — Justic Maphios Cheda, Justice Meshack Cheda, Justice Martin Makonese and Justice Lawrence Kamocha.

Last month, Justice Ndou handled a case where retired Namibian Supreme Court judge Justice Pio Teek was suing the government after the latter’s acquittal on six criminal charges was set aside by the courts in 2009.

He ruled that the High Court did not have jurisdiction to deal with the claim that Justice Teek instituted against the government.

In another case before Justice Ndou, a Namibian magistrate, Leah Shaanika, who was fired by the government, is demanding reinstatement.

A number of retired judges, including Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chairperson Justice Simpson Mutambanengwe, have found jobs in Namibia after their retirement in Zimbabwe.