Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe is in breach of the constitution in many ways key of which he is delaying the installing of an Attorney General, failures which the MDC-T party under its legal chief-whip Jessie Majome condemns and calls for urgent action on.
Furthermore Zimbabwe’s Chief Justice must also urgently employ a code of conduct for judicial and allied officers, and provide a safe whistleblowing facility to expose and no corruption, the party says in a statement.
 
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MDC T PRESS STATEMENT ON THE OPENING OF THE 2015 JUDICIAL YEAR
The Movement for Democratic Change MDC T welcomes the official opening of the judicial year, is heartened by the judiciary’s cognizance of its authority deriving from the people and commends the Chief Justice for therefore accounting to the people of Zimbabwe on the judiciary’s performance. The MDC T congratulates the judges cited as having performed admirably, and exhorts the Hon. Chief Justice to expose the names of those who did not, in the interests of greater accountability and transparency.
The MDC T expects the judiciary to indeed fulfill its aim ,as the Honourable Chief Justice said, to improve justice delivery for the populace, through the addressing, by all stakeholders of the following failings and issues that undermine access to justice and the rule of law:
1. the unconstitutional failure of the Head of State to date to appoint an Attorney General in terms of section 114 of the Constitution compromises the independence and efficiency of the Prosecutor General who is the former Attorney General and illicitly doubles up as the Acting Attorney General AND the Prosecutor General. It is no wonder that the Chief Justice has had to lament delays in criminal trials originating from the prosecution. The MDC-T is aghast that two Cabinet reshuffles have been effected without any attention to the need to appoint the Attorney General. The MDC-T demands that the Head of State complies with the Constitution and urgently appoints an A. G. upon his return from leave.
2. The delay in gazetting the date of coming into operation of the National Prosecuting Authority Act despite its being assented to last year, unconstitutionally undermines its independence as it continues to operate under the administration of the Ministry of Justice. The MDC-T demands the immediate gazetting of the coming into operation of the NPA.
3. The unconstitutional failure of the 2015 national budget to provide separately for the NPA as required by Section 305(3)(c) and the attendant under resourcing of the NPA.
4. The more open system of judges should be made more democratic by affording members of the public an appropriately managed opportunity to pose questions or raise issues regarding candidate judges, thereby making public access more meaningful.
5. The dissatisfactory conditions of service of judicial officers that disquiet the Hon. Chief Justice so much can only be funded for adequately if the Judicial Service Commission had been given an opportunity to make representations to the Parliamentary Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs as required by section 325 (2) of the Constitution. The MDC-T condemns this rampant level of unconstitutionality even in the administration of the justice delivery system and begs the question: who will guard the guard?
6. The MDC-T is appalled by the toxic levels of corruption in the judicial system, which often manifest in the form of political partisanship, and demands that the Judiciary, Executive and Legislature deal with it decisively and comprehensively. The MDC-T demands that the Judiciary in particular urgently employs a code of conduct for judicial and allied officers, and provides a safe whistleblowing facility to expose and no corruption.
7. The MDC-T condemns in the strongest terms the rampant corruption exposed in prisons’ administration by the Auditor General’s Report , which is contributing to the mortal suffering of prisoners by causing them deprivations which grossly violate their human rights, and contribute to epidemic prison escapes.
8. The MDC-T does not miss the irony that the mistaken expectation of the Hon. Chief Justice that the 2013 elections would result in fewer constitutional electoral challenges, is in fact evidence that the election was not free and fair, in spite of the courts finding the opposite. The MDC T is vindicated in its position that the 2013 elections were not free and fair and warns that unless the courts exercise their constitutional duty to be unflinching in being impartial, even in caustic political disputes before it, they will squander an opportunity to be instrumental to the peaceful resolution of Zimbabwe’s political and therefore economic woes, which are hampering the functions of even the judiciary itself.
9. The absence of an effective framework of the constitutionally mandated legal aid and access to justice is contributing to ignorance of the law and the falling backlogs and under-utilization of the Administrative Court. The MDC-T demands that the Judicial Service Commission and the Executive conducts awareness and legal & constitutional literacy campaigns, as well as evaluating the reach of the court in order to empower citizens to utilize the Administrative Court, rather than abandoning it.
10. The MDC-T is alarmed by the silence of the judicial performance report on the traditional and customary law courts yet for a significant proportion of the population this is the only accessible jurisdiction and which often metes out drastic, unmitigated outcomes. The MDC-T demands an immediate alignment of the traditional and conventional justice system.
11. The MDC-T is also vindicated that its position to have an immediate separate Constitutional Court bench in the constitutional negotiations was correct. The present position of a 7 year delay was a compromise to avert a collapse of the process by accommodating the ZANU PF position of having the same judges sit in the Constitutional Court and Supreme Court, that is already evidently prejudicial of justice.
12. The MDC-T is encouraged by the steady flow of cases to the Constitutional Court but is disappointed that the cases are few given the Executive’s failure to implement the vast majority of provisions of the Constitution. The MDC T warns the Constitutional Court to brace harder for more constitutional applications as long as the Executive continues avoiding implementing the Constitution.
13. The continuing chronic constitutional crisis arising from failure, running into a second year, of implementing the new Constitution and deliberately delaying the alignment of statutory provisions to the Constitution must come to a screeching halt if the judiciary is to use its niche to meaningfully contribute to ‘make our lives as Zimbabweans better’ as the Hon. Chief Justice yearns for.
Fungayi Jessie Majome
Secretary for Justice and Legal Affairs
Movement for Democratic Change MDC T
12 January 2015