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Shocking systematic bullying
Godwin Gandu, Mail & Guardian (SA)
April 07, 2006

http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=14168

Harare - Court proceedings are brought to a halt in Harare's High Court D where two witnesses, flown in from Switzerland, are to testify in a murder case. The recording equipment has malfunctioned and the Justice Ministry is too broke to replace it. The Swiss ambassador to Zimbabwe, Marcel Stutz, leaves the court and returns moments later with a cable - for which he paid R15 - so that the case can proceed. This sorry tale is indicative of the dire state of Zimbabwe's courts. But it is not just cables and poor lighting that are a problem; state agents and the police stand accused of bullying the judiciary, particularly in politically sensitive cases. "Going to courts is now a formality. Otherwise, cases are determined over a glass of beer or at a restaurant outside town," a senior law officer at the attorney general's office told the Mail & Guardian. "So worrying is the situation that there are few magistrates and police officers with good conscience left in the system."

An internal document, compiled by the human resources department of the Justice Ministry states that in 2000 and 2003, 30 magistrates and 50 clerks and interpreters quit. In 2004 and 2005 an additional 15 magistrates and 21 prosecutors resigned. Last October the president of the Magistrates' Association of Zimbabwe, Enias Magate, told the Minister of Justice, Patrick Chinamasa, that poorly paid magistrates were "resorting to taking bribes". It is not uncommon for magistrates to be seen hitchhiking to work or jostling for seats on a bus with people that will appear before them on that day. With a salary of R1 200 a month and constant intimidation by police, magistrates are prone to corruption. Attorney General Sobuza Gula-Ndebele last month alerted President Robert Mugabe of these "deplorable unbecoming conducts", in his regular briefing to the head of state. Gula-Ndebele, a war veteran himself, has signalled his intention to tackle the politicians head-on. An official in the auditor general's office said: "He told us to report any politician harassing us. I think there is a limit to what he can do."

Just recently, in the eastern city of Mutare, about 250km from Harare, provincial area prosecutor Levison Chikafu had to flee his home after a heated debate with state agents over the handling of the arms cache discovered at the property of arms dealer Mike Hitschmann. Auditor-general officials Joseph Jagada and Florence Ziyambi also had to beat a hasty retreat to Harare. According to sources in the office, "state agents wanted to direct the prosecution" and did not take kindly to "varying and glaring loopholes pointed out to them". The police, they say, "are never thorough when they conduct investigations" and their "dockets collapse" when the case is taken to court. In his ruling, High Court Judge Charles Hungwe, on circuit in Mutare, blasted the "shocking, systematic bullying and intimidation of the prosecution by state agents . the behaviour deserves the highest possible censure".

In August 2002, magistrate Walter Chikwanha was beaten up in Chipinge, sustaining broken ribs and a fractured collarbone. He was dragged from his courtroom by a group of war veterans in full view of the police after he dismissed an application by the state to remand in custody five opposition officials. In 2001 in Bindura, Mashonaland central province, war veterans accosted magistrate Munamato Mutevedzi for ordering the arrest of Zanu PF supporters. He has since been transferred to another province. Prosecutors who spoke to the M&G also complained that the Attorney General's Bill that sought to establish an independent office with its own finances has yet to be implemented, despite having passed through Parliament and Cabinet. "The president himself approved it. Why it's not being approved four years on is baffling," a prosecutor lamented. The Bill is also intended to usher in market-related salaries of R6 000 a month for prosecutors. "There is a feeling in government that we are incompetent hence no need for more salaries or approval of the Bill," he said.

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