adminDaniel Nemukuyu Senior Reporter
CHIEF Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku has rubbished a report by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation that claims Zimbabwe does not observe the rule of law, saying the document was based on falsehoods.
The Mo Ibrahim Foundation ranked Zimbabwe 45th out of 52 African countries in terms of observing rule of law.
Chief Justice Chidyausiku was also responding to a speech by Danish Embassy Charge d’Affaires Erik Brogger Rasmussen, who relied on the Mo Ibrahim Foundation report to assess Zimbabwe’s Judicial Service Commission.
He was speaking at yesterday’s commissioning of the Norton Magistrates’ Court, which was built with assistance from the Royal Danish Embassy.
“There’s one point raised by the charge d’affaires when he said Ibrahim ranks us very low. Ibrahim has never been to Zimbabwe and he probably relies on hearsay,” the Chief Justice said.
“Zimbabwe observes the rule of law and if we didn’t observe it, you (Danish Embassy) would’ve withdrawn your aid some two years ago. You’ve direct experience of us and you have to make your own independent observation and conclusion about us.”
Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Ambassador Chris Mutsvangwa also dimissed the report.
“We want to tell our EU partners that they must rely on concrete evidence of interaction with Zimbabwe. Mo Ibrahim has never been to Zimbabwe and his foundation tended to be abused by those with an anti-African agenda,” Mutsvangwa blasted.
“It’s one thing to make your money out of Africa but it’s another thing to denigrate the continent that makes you make that money. Mo Ibrahim, being a rich businessman, he should not let his award be abused to the extent to which it is.”
Chief Justice Chidyausiku also said corruption reports against magistrates had declined over the past four years, a development he attributed to the Judicial Service Commission’s improvement of working conditions of the magistracy.
The Chief Justice chairs the JSC.
He hailed magistrates for reducing the backlog of cases from 48,532 in 2010 to 4,122 by March this year.
“At the time the Judicial Service Commission took over the magistracy, reports of corruption, factual or imagined, were rampant.
However, of late there has been a significant drop in the number of reported cases of corruption in the magistracy.”
Chief Justice Chidyausiku said judicial reforms and a strategic plan promoted efficiency of the courts system.
“The returns on the number of hours spent by magistrates in court show that in 2010, magistrates were spending an average of 20 hours per month in court. The laziest among the magistrates were spending as little as two hours per month in court. As of now, every magistrate is required to spend, and is in fact spending, at least 60 hours in court per month,” he revealed.
Previously, magistrates’ courts used to open between 10AM and 11AM, but now they operate from 8.30AM to 4:45PM.
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