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 judiciarys cognizance of its authority deriving from
the people and commends the Chief Justice for therefore
accounting to the people of Zimbabwe on the judiciarys
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

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by Section 305(3)(c) and the attendant under

resourcing of the NPA.
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.
The dissatisfactory conditions of service of judicial
officers that disquiten 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?
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.
The MDC T condemns in the strongest terms the
rampant corruption exposed in prisons
administration by the Auditor Generals 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.
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 Zimbabwes 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 Executives 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.

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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