As details of Zimbabwe’s judicial capture emerge, CSOs sound alarm

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Civil society has expressed alarm following as yet unconfirmed reports that Judge Paddington Garwe has been cited in a scam that is strategically meant to capture and dismantle the judiciary order in Zimbabwe.

Abigail Mupambi, the National Coordinator of the Civic Society and Churches Joint Forum expressed great concern about claims that the George Soros Foundation through the US Embassy has dangled a lucrative fund to lure the Zimbabwean Judiciary into their trap.

“If these reports are true, we are doomed as a nation. One thing l know is that there is no smoke without fire. The judiciary is the heart of a nation. It shapes the decency of any people!. Stooping so low is the least l would expect from our learned Judges. Well, the west does not rest until they fulfill their interests. What is important for us a people is to understand that we are a people together. No amount of money is worth trading this nation to foreigners. Defending this nation is not optional for Zimbabweans but it’s rather a must,” Mupambi said.

Mupambi went on to allege that Soros is believed to be a longtime friend of the MDC Alliance Vice President Tendai Biti who is reportedly handling the money since he is the “US blue-eyed boy.”

Honourable Tendai Biti, the US Embassy in Zimbabwe and Judge Garwe were not available for comments by the time of going to press.

Meanwhile, sources from the inner circles of the judiciary who refused to be named in fear of victimisation confirmed that Judge Paddington Garwe has fallen for the dirty deal among others. There are unconfirmed reports of underground recruitment of other senior officials in the Judiciary.

“This is not strange but the reality of how the US works, particularly on their targeted prey. Zimbabwe has always been a US target for the past 20 years because of taking back land through the land reform program which benefitted many native Zimbabweans through land empowerment. It is public knowledge that since then Zimbabwe has been struggling with the illegal US imposed economic sanctions,” Mupambi added.