Harare, Zimbabwe(News of the South)-The biggest legacy of exiting Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku, after 16 years in that position, is the capture of the judiciary by the executive according to one legal practitioner Alex Magaisa.
Writing in his blog the Law lecturer said Chidyausiku had presided over the Judicial system through an eventful and controversial period.
“His tenure as head of Zimbabwe’s Judiciary has been eventful and controversial. For better or worse, he has left an important footprint. He presided over the Judiciary at a time of tense and revolutionary political developments”.
“Probably the most overwhelming impression under his leadership is that the judiciary has been subject to capture by the executive arm of the state”.
“This is a significant shift from the image of the judiciary in the pre-Chidyausiku era, when it was widely hailed for its independence from the executive and for its steadfast defence of the substantive rule of the law”, he said.
Magaisa added that “this is hardly surprising, as indeed, the major reason for the purge of the Gubbay court which preceded the Chidyausiku court was that the government believed it was a stumbling block”.
Chief Justice Chidyausiku exited his position after 16 years in power having started his career on the judicial bench in 1987.
Chidyausiku presided over the judicial system during the tumultuous era of land invasions with some of the rulings from then leading to accusations of his bench being biased towards the state.
He was Zimbabwe’s fifth and longest reigning CJ coming in as the second black CJ after the first one Enock Dumbutschena who presided over the court between 1984 and 1990.
“As Chief Justice and head of the Judiciary, Chidyausiku was right at the centre of this revolution, and his pivotal role earned him numerous accolades and eternal praise from the ruling party and complete disdain from the farming community that was displaced from the land”.
“Indeed when the story is told in future, the history of the land revolution will be incomplete without an articulation of Chidyausiku’s game-changing role”, said Magaisa who is a former advisor to Morgan Tsvangirai.
Chidyausiku has been temporarily replaced by Justice Malaba.
However the process to replace him has been riddled with court challenges and political gimmicks that have soured the whole act into a political and administrative fiasco.
At his farewell dinner Chidyausiku expressed disappointment at the row.
“There are times when things do not go the way they should….one of them is the way we are quarreling about my successor… it is a really big disappointment”.
“I would have wanted to leave one very united judiciary that is fearless, independent and with a backbone of steel”, he said.
Some quarters have questioned the carrying out of public interviews by the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) saying that channel is bereft of sense as it requires juniors to assess their seniors.
They have thus called for a Constitutional amendment that will have the appointment power vested in the President.
Others have however hit back at such an idea saying it encourages an autocratic habit.
The case took a new twist last week when Romeo Zibani, a law student and suspected ZANU activist reported Chidyausiku to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) for alleged criminal abuse of office after theCJ invited retired Constitutional Court judge Vernanda Ziyambi to join two other judges to hear the appeal against Justice Hungwe ruling stopping the interviews by the JSC.
Comments
About Author
