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Justice Bhunu reserves judgment in the Mudede passport case
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
October 27, 2011

High Court Judge Justice Chinembiri Bhunu on Thursday 27 October 2011 reserved judgment in a case in which Sebastian Piroro, a Canadian based Zimbabwean citizen is seeking an order to compel the High Court to set down as an urgent case the contempt of court application filed against Registrar-General (RG) Tobaiwa Mudede after he defied a court order to renew his passport.

Justice Bhunu reserved judgment after hearing arguments from Piroro's lawyer, Bryant Elliot of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and Mudede's new lawyer, Caroline Mudenda of Mudenda Attorneys who opposed the application.

Elliot argued that Piroro's application for contempt of court should be urgently set down for hearing because his client has been unable to travel outside Canada since June 2010 when his passport expired.

The human rights lawyer said Piroro, a specialised Accountant/Strategist for a Canadian financial institution has been severely prejudiced to the extent of failing to travel outside Canadian borders to keep up to date with the ever changing regulations in the banking and accounting industries by travelling to and understudying trends in North America and Europe.

Elliot said Piroro's failure to fulfill his job obligations could soon result in loss of employment.

The lawyer argued that the failure to issue Piroro with a travel document has failed him to enroll for a Doctor of Business Administration degree at Bradford University School of Management in the United Kingdom.

Elliot argued that by defying High Court Judge Justice Susan Mavangira's order for the RG's office to renew Piroro's passport Mudede had committed the most serious contempt of court and continues to hold the High Court in contempt.

He said Piroro's application for contempt of court should be set down for hearing and determined as a matter of urgency in order to uphold the dignity and integrity of the court.

Piroro in August filed an application for contempt of court against Mudede seeking to have him jailed for 90 days for defying Justice Mavangira's order. Mudede has failed to renew Piroro's passport despite being given a two-week ultimatum to do so in March this year by Justice Mavangira.

Elliot said Mudede deserves serving jail time because he had "wilfully and persistently failed to obey and comply with the Order of the High Court.

Piroro was born and educated in Zimbabwe and had sought to renew his passport at the Zimbabwean embassy in Ottawa. The travelling document was issued in 2000 and expired last year. But in response Mudede refused, alleging that Piroro was a dual citizen on account of his father having been born in Mozambique. Mudede said Piroro should first renounce his purported Mozambican citizenship-which he does not hold-before he could obtain a new Zimbabwe passport.

Mudede's office turned down Piroro's application to renew the passport. He indicated that his office could only do so after Piroro renounced his purported foreign citizenship. In his argument which was thrown out by Justice Mavangira, Mudede argued that Piroro was a "Mozambican citizen by descent" who should have renounced his purported citizenship between 6 July 2001 and 6 January 2002 under the provisions of section 9 (7) of the Citizenship of Zimbabwe Act.

Mudede argued that although Piroro was born in Zimbabwe and spent most of his life in the country, he had lost his Zimbabwean citizenship and was now regarded as an "alien".

Piroro's father, Saidon, was born in Mozambique. He migrated to Zimbabwe around 1955 and never returned to Mozambique. He became a citizen of Zimbabwe by registration and had a Zimbabwean identity number. Piroro's mother, born in Marondera, was a citizen of Zimbabwe by birth.

Justice Mavangira ruled that Piroro was a citizen of Zimbabwe by birth in terms of Section 5 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.

The High Court Judge declared that "the provisions of Section 9 (7) of the Citizenship of Zimbabwe Act (Chapter 4:01) in so far as it relates to citizenship by birth are ultra vires the powers vested in the Parliament of Zimbabwe in terms of Section 9 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe and are in consequence of no force or effect."

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