Newly appointed judges set to start work

Auxilia Katongomara, Chronicle Reporter
EIGHT newly appointed judges of the High Court are set to start work tomorrow.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa appointed them last December in an effort to improve staffing levels and reduce the backlog of cases at the superior courts.

In an interview yesterday, Judicial Service Commission (JSC) secretary, Justice Rita Makarau, said the judges have been undergoing training.

Justice Makarau said Judge President, Justice George Chiweshe will advise on their deployments to various stations. “They will be deployed to various stations but the Judge President will advise us on where each one of them will be deployed. I am not sure how many will be deployed to Bulawayo,” she said.

The eight judges are Labour Court judge Justice Philda Muzofa, University of Zimbabwe (UZ) lecturer Ms Sylvia Chirawu and Messrs Pisirayi Kwenda, Neville Wamambo, Thompson Mabhikwa, Benjamin Chikowero, Jacob Manzunzu and Isaac Muzenda.

The judges were appointed following public interviews held by the JSC in 2016.

Prior to the public interviews, the late Retired Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku set an aptitude test for the 43 aspiring judges to assess their ability to write judgments and 29 of them failed.

However, the JSC said all the candidates, including those who failed the pre-interview test, had a right to participate in public interviews and justify why they should be considered for the posts.

The deployment of the eight new judges comes at a time that the High Court is continuing with its decentralisation drive following the setting up of the Masvingo High Court in 2016. Another station is set to be opened in Mutare in due course.

The High Court in Bulawayo is operating with three judges namely Justice Francis Bere, Justice Nicholas Mathonsi and Justice Nokuthula Moyo. The judges also preside over circuit sittings in Hwange and Gweru.

Officially opening the Gweru High Court Circuit on Monday, Justice Moyo said there was need to establish a permanent High Court in the city.

@AuxiliaK