PRESIDENT MUGABE APPOINTS THREE ADDITIONAL SUPREME

UNCLAS HARARE 002345 SIPDIS NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER LONDON FOR GURNEY PARIS FOR BISA WILLIAMS NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR ZI SUBJECT: PRESIDENT MUGABE APPOINTS THREE ADDITIONAL SUPREME COURT JUDGES UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 02 HARARE 02345 081245Z ¶1. PRESIDENT MUGABE HAS APPOINTED THREE ADDITIONAL SUPREME COURT JUDGES, BRINGING THE TOTAL NUMBER OF JUSTICES ON THE COUNTRY'S HIGHEST COURT TO EIGHT. MINISTER OF JUSTICE PATRICK CHINAMASA ANNOUNCED THAT THE NEW APPOINTMENTS WERE MADE IN PREPARATION FOR AN EXPECTED INCREASE IN WORKLOAD. THE ADDITIONAL WORKLOAD, HE SAID, WOULD RESULT FROM APPEALS FROM A NEWLY-CREATED LABOR TRIBUNAL AND FROM AN EXPANDED ADMINISTRATIVE COURT, WHICH IS HEARING CHALLENGES FROM FARMERS WHOSE PROPERTIES HAVE BEEN LISTED FOR COMPULSORY ACQUISITION UNDER THE FAST-TRACK RESETTLEMENT PROGRAM. PRIOR TO THEIR SWEARING-IN ON AUGUST 2, THE THREE NEWCOMERS -- MISHECK CHEDA AND LUKE MALABA FROM THE BULAWAYO HIGH COURT AND VERNANDA ZIYAMBI FROM THE HARARE HIGH COURT -- ALL PRESIDED AS SENIOR JUDGES. ¶2. THE NEW APPOINTMENTS HAVE RAISED EYEBROWS AMONG SOME MEMBERS OF THE LEGAL COMMUNITY, WHO BELIEVE THE PRESIDENT IS TRYING TO PACK THE COURT WITH HIS SUPPORTERS. EILEEN SAWYER, DIRECTOR OF THE LEGAL RESOURCES FOUNDATION, TOLD US THAT THERE WAS NO REASON TO APPOINT ADDITIONAL JUDGES, AS THE CURRENT MEMBERS OF THE BENCH WERE NOT PARTICULARLY BUSY. LAW SOCIETY PRESIDENT STERNFORD MOYO, HOWEVER, MAINTAINED THAT THE NEW MEMBERS OF THE BENCH COULD NOT BE CONSIDERED STOOGES OF ZANU-PF. HE DESCRIBED JUSTICE CHEDA AS A "SOUND JUDGE" WHO RENDERS JUDGMENTS BASED ON HIS READING OF THE LAW, NOT POLITICAL AFFILIATION. MOYO CITED AS AN EXAMPLE CHEDA'S PUBLIC CRITICISM OF FORMER HIGH COURT JUDGE PRESIDENT, AND CURRENT ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE, GODFREY CHIDYAUSIKU FOR ISSUING A PRO-GOVERNMENT RULING ON THE FAST- TRACK RESETTLEMENT EFFORT WHICH CONTRADICTED A PREVIOUS SUPREME COURT DECISION. CHEDA CALLED CHIDYAUSIKU'S RULING UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 03 HARARE 02345 081245Z "ERRONEOUS." MOYOOYO DESCRIBED JUSTICE MALABA AS A "SOUND AND CAPABLE LAWYER, PERHAPS ONE OF THE MOST ABLE IN MATABELELAND", AND SAID HE HAS A STRONG HUMAN RIGHTS BACKGROUND. ALTHOUGH SOME OBSERVERS BELIEVE THAT ZIYAMBI DOES NOT POSSESS THE SAME CALIBER OF LEGAL MIND AS HER TWO COUNTERPARTS AND ARE SUSPICIOUS OF HER CONNECTIONS TO ZANU- PF (HER HUSBAND WAS MINISTER OF JUSTICE WHEN HE DIED IN A CAR ACCIDENT ABOUT TEN YEARS AGO),MOYO THOUGHT HER STRONG RELIGIOUS CONVICTIONS WOULD PLAY A MORE IMPORTANT ROLE IN GUIDING HER DECISIONS THAN ANY POLITICAL SYMPATHIES. (COMMENT: WE UNDERSTAND FROM OTHER SOURCES THAT MANY OF ZIYAMBI'S RELATIVES, INCLUDING HER CHILDREN, BLAME ZANU-PF FOR STAGING THE ACCIDENT IN WHICH HER HUSBAND DIED, ALTHOUGH ZIYAMBI'S OWN THOUGHTS ON THIS ISSUE ARE NOT CLEAR. END COMMENT.) MOYO NOTED THAT ZIYAMBI IS THE FIRST WOMAN APPOINTED TO THE SUPREME COURT. ¶5. COMMENT -------------- ¶3. 3.MANY OBSERVERS HAVE BEEN EXPECTING PRESIDENT MUGABE TO PACK THE COURT FOR SOME TIME TO DILUTE THE INFLUENCE OF THE REMAINING JUSTICES, TWO OF WHOM ARE NOT BLACK. THE CONSTITUTION OF ZIMBABWE PERMITS THE PRESIDENT TO APPOINT AS MANY JUSTICES AS HE SEES FIT; IT ESTABLISHES ONLY A MINIMUM NUMBER OF JUDGES (FIVE) THAT MUST OCCUPY THE BENCH. . GIVEN THE STRONG INDEPENDENT BACKGROUNDS OF TWO OF THE THREE NEW APPOINTMENTS, IT IS UNLIKELY THAT THE GOZ CAN UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 04 HARARE 02345 081245Z COUNT ON THEM TO AUTOMATICALLY DO ITS BIDDING. MORE LIKELY, THE PRESIDENT IS PROBABLY LOOKING FOR A SUPREME COURT THAT IS "BLACKER," AND IN HIS CALCULATION, MORE SYMPATHETIC TO THE RULING PARTY. HOWEVER, MUGABE STILL WANTS A COURT THAT IS RESPECTABLE AND NOT BLATANTLY PARTISAN BECAUSE HE VALUES A COURT THAT CAN PUT A CREDIBLE STAMP OF LEGALITY ON HIS LAND SEIZURE PROGRAM AND OTHER LAWS RESTRICTING POLITICAL FREEDOM. WE NOTE THAT GODFREY CHIDYAUSIKU HAS NOT YET BEEN SWORN IN AS CHIEF JUSTICE; HE HAS BEEN ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE FOR MORE THAN A MONTH. HE HAS COME UNDER WIDESPREAD CRITICISM FROM THE LEGAL COMMUNITY, AND THE GOVERNMENT MAY BE RETHINKING HIS PERMANENT APPOINTMENT. END COMMENT. HOOKS UNCLASSIFIED >