ZiHarare – President Emmerson Mnangagwa has pardoned ex-High Court judge, Benjamin Paradza who fled the country almost 20 years ago after being convicted of corruption.
Paradza was convicted of corruption in 2006 for lobbying for the release of a passport to a business associate, French man Russel Wayne Labuschagne who was awaiting trial for murder.
He was sentenced to two years in prison but fled the country in a daring escape under the nose of the then tight security of the late and ex-president Robert Mugabe regime.
Paradza, a war veteran was allegedly assisted by senior ZANU PF officials who felt that the prison sentence was too harsh and meant to settle political scores.
Sources said the late former army chief, Solomon Mujuru whose Nome de guerre was Rex Nhongo was involved in Paradza’s escape from justice.
Mujuru and his wife, Joice who was vice president in 2006 were said to be very close to Paradza and felt that the conviction of the judge was unfair and political.
In the Clemency Order 1, of 2025 published in the government gazette Mnangagwa cleared Paradza of two corruption convictions.
“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,” the government gazette notice reads.
Paradza was the first sitting judge in Zimbabwe to be convicted of corruption.
After fleeing the country, Paradza led a quite life but remained in the legal field.
Now based in New Zealand, the former judge has been using Twitter now known as X to publish his opinions.
In one of the many posts Paradza said most politicians are corrupt.
”We have indeed made the painful mistake of thinking that politicians are leaders They are not. Most are outright crooks eager to use the vote we give them to make their money. That’s why we have bad governance, corruption and general chaos in our body politics,” Paradza said.
Towards the 2023 elections, Paradza encouraged Zimbabweans to go and vote.
”To my Zimbabwean people, family and friends, go out and vote. It is very important that you vote and choose leaders who will free us from exile and bandage. We want to come home with all our money and create jobs,” he wrote.
Paradza also supported protests after the disputed elections calling on ordinary Zimbabweans to defend their vote in 2023.
He missed home and expressed how he missed Zimbabwe, expressing that his desire to come back to pay his respects to his parents who died when he was already in exile.
”This time if we are unable to defend our vote I will be gutted. It will be the end of our time. I want to come home, visit my mum and dad’s graves and shed a tear for them. Most of all I want to invest and employ. My people need it,” Paradza wrote on X.
In another post on 24 March, 2023 on his X platform, Paradza criticized people who get rich through ill-gotten wealth using the now popular word “Zvigananda” that was popularized early this year by Vice President Constantino Chiwenga in January to criticize corrupt people in Zimbabwe.
”Nyika yefu (sic) yakabiwa nezvigananda. These are the guys we used to say Pasi nezvigananda. They are cruel. They dont care. We will wake up one day to find our country empty all wealth gone to Dubai and Asia. And here we are in exile running away from matsotsi chaiwo (crooks),” Paradza wrote on X.
The word Chigananda was used by guerillas during the 1970s liberation struggle to describe people like the racist white regime that exploited and enslaved blacks corruptly for financial gain.
Paradza in the past years formed a political party called Zimbabwe United for Democracy (ZUNDE).
He was also reportedly working as a Uber driver in Wellington, New Zealand.
Paradza has not publicly commented on the pardon by Mnangagwa.