By Zweli Martin Dlamini

MBABANE:Two(2) Judges of the High Court have independently confirmed to this Swaziland News the ongoing moves to remove Chief Justice(CJ) Bheki Maphalala as Head of the Judiciary and his subsequent refusal to resign.

It is alleged that, the Chief Justice was ordered to resign but “is backed by powerful individuals including SwaziPharm Director Kareem Ashraff” to defy the King’s order.

As a result, King Mswati has allegedly delayed the appointment of the Judicial Service Commission(JSC) amid the power-struggle in the corridors of power as the CJ refuses to step down.

“I was informed that,one of the reasons behind the delay in the appointment of the JSC is that, the King wants the incoming new Chief Justice to start working with new members of the Judicial Service Commission,”said the Judge.

But another Judge who was speaking to this publication on condition of anonymity, advised the King to consider approaching the Law Society of Eswatini(LSS) for a candidate member to strengthen the new JSC.

“The law stipulates that a lawyer must be a member of the JSC but sometimes, those who advise the King would just pick any lawyer yet it is the Law Society that must recommend the lawyer. We have credible lawyers who can represent the Law Society in the JSC and that lawyer must be recommended by the Law Society itself. Sometimes we wish to advise but it’s difficult to meet the King so we hope that, he will get the advice because he reads these articles. We last had a strong JSC under His Royal Highness Prince David and, if the JSC is weak and failing to hold even the incoming new Chief Justice accountable, then we will have a problem”, said the Honorable Judge.

Reached for comments on Wednesday evening, King’s Spokesperson Percy Simelane said, the King would appreciate advice but clarified that, the advice should be in accordance with the Constitution.

“Our experience is that the King relies on advice based on the  Eswatini Constitution.If there are improvements to be made in the appointments,they surely have to be debated in Parliament to qualify any change in procedure” said the King’s Spokesperson.

Simelane maintained that,even if the advice could come from the Law Society, it must be a constitutional advice because the King appoints the JSC in accordance with the law.

A third Judge whose opinion was sought on the matter of the Judicial Service Commission and the looming removal of the Chief Justice, later contacted his close friend to inform this journalist that, he would also share an opinion later.

This comes after this journalist tried to contact the Judge several times to verify the situation within the Judiciary amid the alleged refusal by the CJ to resign.

“He said I must inform you that, he will call back, he was busy and couldn’t take your calls”, said the close friend to the Judge.

Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala declined to comment about the matter.

Courts are currently grounded amid the ongoing attempt to remove the Chief Justice as Head of the Judiciary, the King has delayed the appointment of the JSC resulting to some Acting Judges, Magistrates, Master of the High Court Assistants and other judicial officers vacating their positions after the expiry of their contracts. 

This resulted to a backlog of cases as the courts are now without adequate human resources and, the Ministry of Public Service has been refusing to allow the Chief Justice to employ new staff pending the appointment of the JSC.

The CJ stands accused of fraud and corruption, maladministration and/or abuse of power, the Law Society has been calling for his impeachment for sometime now.

But human rights lawyer Sibusiso Nhlabatsi confirmed that the delay in the appointment of the JSC has resulted to a backlog of cases, Magistrate Courts are facing a backlog of cases, he described the delay in the appointment of the JSC as illegal.

“It is illegal for the Judiciary to function without the Judicial Service Commission because as the situation stands,the permanent Judges and Magistrates are facing a backlog of cases and this, is compromising the quality of the judgements.These Acting Judges and Magistrates some who are sitting at home now, were assisting in handling other cases to avoid the backlog”, said the lawyer when responding to this publication.

It remains unclear if King Mswati will eventually succeed in removing the CJ who “is backed by a powerful syndicate that is also close to the Monarch”.