HARARE — A judge has ordered President Emmerson Mnangagwa to publish a report into the alleged looting of state land, after a former opposition MP dragged the presidency to court over what he described as years of unconstitutional silence.
The ruling by the Harare High Court follows an application filed by former Harare East legislator Allan Norman Markham, who accused Mnangagwa of unlawfully withholding the Uchena Commission Report, an inquiry into the sale of state land in and around urban areas since 2005, despite its huge public interest implications.
Justice Maxwell Takuva ruled that the continued suppression of the report offends the principles of transparency and accountability.
“The continued withholding of this report constitutes a violation of the constitutional right to access information,” the judge said, adding that the right “is not discretionary” and binds all state institutions.
The Uchena Commission, chaired by Justice Tendai Uchena, was appointed in 2018 after widespread public outrage over illegal land deals, unregulated settlements and the rise of powerful land barons accused of fleecing desperate home-seekers.
The commission held hearings and inspections across all 10 provinces before submitting its final report to Mnangagwa in December 2019.
Despite being in the president’s hands for years, the report was never made public.
In his court application, Markham said the inquiry unearthed “damning findings” pointing to massive abuse in land allocation and development, with losses to the state estimated at nearly US$3 billion. He argued that keeping the report under wraps shielded corruption from scrutiny and denied Zimbabweans the right to know how public land was abused.
“The withholding of the report undermines public accountability and prevents citizens from understanding the extent of corruption, maladministration and loss of public resources,” Markham submitted.
Government lawyers fought the application, insisting the constitution does not compel the president to publish commission reports and arguing that access to information does not mean automatic public release. They also warned that publication could expose the state to lawsuits and violate the rights of individuals named in the report.
But Justice Takuva was unimpressed.
“The court is not too sure as to what criteria was used to choose which specific stakeholders were entitled to receive the report while others were left out,” he said. “This procedure clearly does not reflect the transparency stipulated by our constitution.”
The judge said the report deals with public property, and allegations of corruption, abuse of office and massive revenue losses, all of which fall squarely within matters requiring public accountability.
He said the government’s silence projected “opacity rather than transparency and secrecy rather than accountability,” conduct that directly contradicts constitutional values of good governance.
Takuva said that commissions of inquiry are meant to uncover the truth and restore public confidence in government, not to bury uncomfortable findings in official drawers.
In a stinging order, the court declared the failure to release the report unconstitutional and directed the president to publish and make it accessible to the public within 90 days.
“The withholding of the Uchena Commission Report undermines public accountability and erodes confidence in the institutions of governance,” the judge ruled, adding that those in power are constitutionally bound to act openly in matters of national interest.
No costs were awarded, but the judgement hands critics of the government fresh ammunition in their long-running accusation that corruption is protected from exposure at the highest levels of the state.
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