HARARE — Prominent lawyer Advocate Thabani Mpofu has accused a High Court judge of manufacturing a judgement in which he is falsely recorded as having appeared in court.
In a letter dated July 30, Advocate Mpofu wrote to the Registrar of the High Court, alleging that Justice Never Katiyo fabricated both his presence and arguments in a ruling handed down two days earlier in the matter of Technoimpex JSC v Rajendrakumar Jogi & Others (Case No. HCH6784/19).
“It is obviously not true that I appeared before his lordship and made those submissions. In my view, the judgment is totally made up,” wrote Mpofu.
The judgment, issued on July 28, states that Mpofu represented the applicant, Technoimpex JSC, and outlines legal submissions purportedly made by him in response to objections raised by the respondents. Yet according to Mpofu, not only did he not appear before Justice Katiyo, but the matter is still pending — scheduled for argument on September 15.
The letter has been copied to the Chief Justice, the Judge President, and the Executive Secretary of the Law Society of Zimbabwe, signaling the gravity of the accusations.
“This is not the first time in this dispute that his lordship has attributed submissions to me that I never made in the course of determining matters that were never argued before him,” Mpofu added.
The complaint followed a letter sent to Mpofu by Sinyoro & Partners, the law firm representing the applicant, who also disavowed any knowledge of the alleged court appearance.
“We uplifted the judgment… It does not mention a date of hearing, but bears the Registrar’s stamp dated 28 July 2025,” wrote the firm. “We are not aware of the said appearance and therefore write to enquire when you appeared and on whose instruction.”
The judgement itself makes no mention of a hearing date and proceeds directly to legal analysis, citing company law principles before dismissing the matter for want of authority. Central to Justice Katiyo’s ruling is the finding that the deponent to the applicant’s affidavit was not properly authorised by a board resolution, a procedural misstep that the court found fatal.
Mpofu’s letter has sent ripples through the legal community, as it raises troubling implications about the accuracy and authorship of judicial decisions. His blunt demand — that the judge provide an explanation as to why his name was inserted into the judgment — marks a rare public challenge to judicial conduct in Zimbabwe.
Legal analysts say the situation could trigger a tribunal to investigate the judge’s fitness to stay in office if the allegations are substantiated.
The High Court, the Judicial Service Commission, and Justice Katiyo have not yet publicly responded to the allegations.
Justice Katiyo, a former magistrate in Chinhoyi who once worked as legal director in the ministry of industry and commerce was appointed as a judge by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in 2021.
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