The former chief executive of the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority Masupha Sole, who was jailed for 18 years for corruption, has begun legal action against the judge in his case.
Sole has given notice of a constitutional case filed with the Registrar of the Lesotho High Court calling on it to declare Judge Brendan Cullinan’s appointment to the bench to be in breach of the mountain kingdom’s constitution.
The grounds of his application was that the country’s Judicial Services Commission (JSC) had erred in writing to the King advising him to appoint Cullinan as an acting judge.
The JSC specifically advised the King to appoint Cullinan to preside over this matter.
Sole said the JSC was not competent to advise the King that Cullinan be appointed to sit on his case, or any other case for that matter.
Other judges of the High Court had not declined to preside over the case, he said.
Sole has also challenged the salary to which Cullinan was entitled which he said was ”hugely in excess of the monthly salary paid to the Chief Justice of Lesotho.
He said Cullinan also enjoyed other benefits that other judges did not receive such as a tax-free salary. It is alleged that the Justice received R10 736 a day.
A date has not yet been set for the hearing of the case as the court was on winter vacation.
Judge Cullinan convicted Sole on 12 counts of bribery and two of fraud and sentenced him to a total of 57 years imprisonment of which he would in effect serve 18.
The charge involved R6-million which he received from
international firms for the awarding of lucrative contracts for the construction of the giant Lesotho Highlands water project that supplies water to South Africa. – Sapa