Online Reporter
Joseph Madzimure-Senior Reporter
President Mnangagwa has pardoned former High Court judge, Mr Benjamin Paradza, who was convicted of two corruption charges in 2006.
This decision comes 19 years after his conviction.
Clemency Order No. 1 of 2025, published in Government Notice 1041/2025, confirms the pardon of former judge Mr Paradza by President Mnangagwa, through the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Ziyambi Ziyambi, under Section 112(1)(a) and (b) of Zimbabwe’s Constitution.
The pardon clears Mr Paradza’s record of the two counts of corruption linked to a 2003 incident in which he was accused of improperly lobbying for the release of a white business associate’s passport.
“It is hereby notified that His Excellency the President has in terms of section 112(1)(a) and (b) of the Constitution, made an order granting pardon for Mr Benjamin Paradza in respect of his conviction (Case No., CRB 152/2004) on two counts of corruption on the 9th January, 2006, by the High Court of Zimbabwe sitting at Harare,” reads the notice.
Mr Paradza was found guilty of breaching the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act.
He was jailed for two years, but fled the country in 2006.
The former judge made history in Zimbabwe as the first sitting judge to be arrested and charged with corruption.
He was detained in 2003 after reportedly asking fellow judges to amend bail to release a French passport of Russel Wayne Labuschagne who was awaiting trial for the murder of a fisherman caught poaching.
Labuschagne was his business partner in a Safari venture and was imprisoned for 15 years for the murder.
