Axed Zambian high court judge faces new corruption charges

Justice Joshua Banda was arrested and charged with two counts of corrupt transactions.

• A former Zambian excessive court docket choose who was lately fired by the nation’s president now faces costs of corruption.
• Justice Joshua Banda was arrested and charged with two counts of corrupt transactions.
• Allegations embrace that he solicited a R139 000 bribe to affect a tribunal in a case involving a number one copper mine in Zambia.

The Zambian Anti-Corruption drive has netted a lately fired excessive court docket choose on bribery allegations.

Queen Chibwe, the corruption busters’ spokesperson, mentioned Justice Joshua Banda, 47, “was arrested and charged with two counts of corrupt transactions” on Thursday.

He was later launched on bail and was scheduled to seem in court docket quickly.

Banda was additionally charged with one rely of conspiracy to defeat justice, Chibwe added.

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Allegations towards Banda are that he solicited R139 000 from David Mwanza, an undersheriff and obtained R67 000. Chibwe mentioned the cash was a sweetener for Banda to corruptly affect a tribunal in a case involving a number one copper mine.

Chibwe mentioned the cash was to serve “as an inducement so as to help him to have a beneficial resolution in a tribunal which was sitting to take a look at the gathering of K8 million (R7.44 million) from Mopani Copper Mines”.

The 2 would have additional dealings, after Mwanza had allegedly obtained R930 000 from Banda who needed him to step down as a witness in a case the place the choose was to seem earlier than the Judicial Complaints Fee Tribunal.

Nonetheless, the Judicial Complaints Fee Tribunal discovered Banda responsible of malpractice a fortnight in the past and handed their findings to President Hakainde Hichilema who instantly eliminated Banda from the Bench.

Since then, Banda had been combating to be reinstated.

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Studies from Zambia quoted Banda saying the president’s resolution to take away him from workplace contravened articles 143 and 144 of the nation’s structure.

He additionally sought to argue that the tribunal had no grounds in presiding over complaints lodged towards him earlier than he turned a excessive court docket choose.

A report by GAN Integrity, a US suppose tank, mentioned bribes and funds in return for beneficial judicial selections have been frequent in Zambia and a 3rd of Zambians believed that the majority, if not all, judges have been corrupt.

Zero tolerance for corruption

When he got here into energy final September, Hichilema vowed to strengthen the nation’s anti-corruption campaign.

“We’ve a zero-tolerance coverage on corruption in all its kinds. There will likely be no sacred cows within the struggle. We’ll improve the advantages of being sincere and the price of being corrupt,” he mentioned throughout his inauguration speech.

Since then, lodges and helicopters have been amongst a string of seized property believed to have been acquired corruptly.

The property largely belonged to former ministers in ex-president Edgar Lungu’s cupboard together with Minister of the Inside, Stephen Kampyongo, former overseas minister Joseph Malanji, and Given Lubinda, a former justice minister.

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