Chitungwiza Magistrate Gladys Moyo on Wednesday 24 November 2021 set free Chitungwiza Residents Trust (CHITREST) Director Alice Kuvheya after ruling that the charges she faced of inciting some residents to commit public violence were defective. Kuvheya was arrested by Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) on 14 June 2021 and charged with incitement to commit violence as…
By Kumbirai Mafunda Harare Magistrate Vongai Guwuriro on Monday 22 November 2021 upheld an application for exception to charges of inciting people to commit public violence filed by opposition Transform Zimbabwe political party leader Jacob Ngarivhume and ordered the State to amend its charge sheet so that it clearly specifies the particularities which created the…
By Veritas African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance Instrument of Ratification of the Charter Signed by President On 11 November 2021, Veritas was informed by the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs that President Mnangagwa signed the Instrument of Ratification of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance [hereinafter called “the Charter”]….
Musasa – a Gender Champion and Women’s Organisation in Zimbabwe has been calling for a minimum mandatory sentence on rape to be applied in Zimbabwe. This year the organisation submitted a petition to the Parliament of Zimbabwe with the request to amend the Criminal Codification Act to make provisions for the minimum mandatory sentence. The…
By Kumbirai Mafunda Twenty-eight Chiadzwa villagers were on Thursday 4 November 2021 released from prison custody after they were arrested by Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officers for allegedly protesting against Chinese diamond miner, Anjin Investments. The 28 Chiadzwa villagers, who included Robert Chiadzwa, a 90-year-old Headman, were arrested on Wednesday 3 November 2021, and charged…
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition has noted with great concern, plans by the government to restrict freedom of speech and expression through the deployment of a cyber team to monitor citizens on social media. On November 4, 2021, Information Minister, Monica Mutsvangwa announced that the government had set up a cyber team to “monitor what people…
The African Disability Protocol (ADP) is necessary to address the continent’s unique cultural practices, customs, and traditional beliefs that hinder people with disabilities (PWDs) from an opportunity for equal treatment and access to products and services. This emerged at a meeting held at Holiday Inn Hotel in Harare on 4 November 2021, to review the…
Parliament’s pre-budget seminar for 2022 kicked off in the resort town of Victoria Falls today with the Minister of Finance, Professor Mthuli Ncube predicting that the economy is on a growth trajectory with the gross domestic product (GDP) still projected to grow by 7.8% in 2021, attributed to favourable rainfall season, higher international mineral commodity…
By Veritas Legal practitioners (i.e. lawyers) have to possess certain qualifications before they can be registered and allowed to practise in Zimbabwe. The qualifications for registration are set by a body called the Council for Legal Education which is established in terms of the Legal Practitioners Act. Generally, persons are qualified to be registered if: · they have a…
Senior representatives of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) had a meeting with President Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi to brief and consult him in his capacity as the Chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) with regard to developments at PAP in view of the African Union (AU) Permanent Representative Council (Ambassadors) and Executive Council…
By Veritas The 10th of October is the World Day Against the Death Penalty and we need to ask ourselves the question: Where does Zimbabwe stand on this issue? The answer is that Zimbabwe has a President who has spoken out against the death penalty and we may be on the verge of bringing in a Bill…
By Veritas In a judgment handed down last Wednesday, a judge of the High Court, Justice Mafusire, ordered the reinstatement of six former opposition Members of the National Assembly who had had to vacate their seats on the ground that they no longer belonged to the party for which they were elected. The six are Kucaca…
By Joyce Mukucha The Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Dr. Anxious Masuka has communicated that Cabinet was concerned about the increase in the numbers of cattle rustlers and warned that measures were being put in place to ensure that the vice is curbed. He revealed this while presenting the update on…
By Joyce Mukucha The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) in collaboration with the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions (NANHRI), are geared to host the 13th NANHRI Biennial Conference virtually in Zimbabwe from 3-5 November 2021. In a statement, ZHRC said the 12th Biennial Conference which was hosted by the National Council for Human…
By Kumbirai Mafunda THE Environmental Management Agency (EMA) says it is yet to receive an environmental impact assessment report from Heijin Mining Company, a Chinese mining company, which is on the verge of displacing several villagers from their ancestral land in Uzumba Maramba-Pfungwe. On 2 September 2021, Tinashe Chinopfukutwa of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights…
By Veritas Nine High Court judges have been appointed by President Mnangagwa on the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission following the public interviews of 35 candidates conducted by the Commission. The new judges were sworn in by Chief Justice Malaba on Tuesday 29th September, the day after the appointments were announced. In alphabetical order…
By Kumbirai Mafunda Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) on Thursday 30 September 2021 petitioned Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga to furnish the human rights organisation with a written undertaking in which law enforcement agents shall be directed to desist from the prevalent practice of throwing teargas canisters into loaded public transportation vehicles….
The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) is disturbed by recent arrests of journalists in Zimbabwe and has condemned such acts. The condemnation comes after 10 journalists were arrested and detained at Harare Central Police station after the law enforcers picked them up while covering a Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) stakeholders meeting at the commission’s Harare…
By Joyce Mukucha In pursuit of promoting worker empowerment and protection as well as regulating individual and collective employment relations, Cabinet has approved the Labour Amendment Bill. Speaking in a post-Cabinet briefing this Tuesday, the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Monica Mutsvangwa said the Bill also provides for the rights to fair and…
By Spiked Online Media Reporter The Freedom of Information Act (FIA) came into law on the 11th of July 2020, its agenda being to facilitate the exercise of constitutional rights by citizens which include freedom of expression and freedom of media, and the right to access to information. This law repeals and replaces the Access…
By Jacob Kudzai Mutisi The Cyber Security and Data Protection Bill is awaiting the signature of the President of Zimbabwe to become law. The purpose of the bill is to consolidate cyber-related offences and provide for data protection with due regard to the Declaration of Rights under the Constitution and the public and national interest,…
Spiked Online Media Reporter The fact that access to information remains a fundamental right to people with disabilities comes to the fore as Zimbabwe joins the rest of the world in commemorating the International Day of Sign Languages which runs under the theme ‘We sign for human rights. The International Day of Sign Language was…
By Joyce Mukucha Deaf Women Included (DWI) continues to foster collaboration among government, civil society organizations(CSOs), and women with disabilities oriented organisations as it strives to ensure that gender-based violence (GBV) against people with disabilities (PWDs), with the main focus being on women and girls with disabilities(WGDs) is curbed. The organisation is thriving to elevate…
By Elvis Dumba The completion of the New Judicial Services Commission Complex that houses both the Magistrate and High Courts fulfills the aspirations for access to justice by the Mashonaland West community. The sentiments were made by the Ministry of Justice Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Permanent Secretary Mrs. Virginia Mabhiza Speaking on the sidelines of…
By Veritas Both Houses of Parliament met last week and will continue sitting this week, from yesterday. This bulletin gives a brief summary of what was achieved last week and what business faces both Houses this week. In the National Assembly Last Week [17th – 19th August] Bills Pension and Provident Funds Bill [link] – The Committee Stage…
The case of a teenage girl who died while giving birth in Marange has prompted organisations like Plan International Zimbabwe and the Freedom of Rights Under Sovereign (FORUS) to issue statements encouraging lawmakers and stakeholders to expedite the crafting of laws that protect the girls from child marriage. In a statement yesterday, Plan International Zimbabwe…
In an unprecedented move to combat wildlife trafficking, Hong Kong’s lawmakers yesterday voted in favour of an amendment bill that means certain wildlife offences will, for the first time, be treated as Serious and Organized crimes. The Bill incorporates wildlife crime offences into Hong Kong’s Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 455), providing additional/appropriate…
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition has said it is astonished by claims by the Minister of Justice, Ziyambi Ziyambi that the Zimbabwe Republic Police “is facing resistance” in investigating the case of a 14-year-old girl, Memory Machaya who died while giving birth at an Apostolic Church shrine in Marange early this month (August 2021). CiZC said…
Dr. Jenfan Muswere, the Minister of Information Communication Technology (ICT), Postal and Courier Services told a gathering of judges who attended an ICT training workshop in Harare to use the knowledge gained for fair justice delivery. The workshop came at an opportune time when the importance of ICTs becomes more apparent particularly due to the…
By Jacob Kudzai Mutisi In Zimbabwe, everything is happening online. People are home and bored, so many are willing to do things that they will never do. Zimbabweans have accepted the use of mobile technology and no doubt, the internet, social media, and SMS have become part and parcel of our lives, which can be…
By Veritas Introduction This Bill proposes to bring the Police Act into conformity with the provisions of the Constitution. The Bill can be accessed on the Veritas website [link] as can the Act itself [link]. Importance of the Bill The Police Act [which we shall call the Act in this bulletin] regulates the appointment and discipline of police officers…
By Veritas The thirty-first amendment to the Lock-down Order was published on the 30th July, in SI 210 of 2021, and can be accessed on the Veritas website [link]. Its effect is simply to extend the Level IV lock-down until the 10th of August, i.e. until after the Heroes Day and Defence Forces Day weekend. The special lock-downs…
By Veritas New High Court Rules were published by SI 202 of 2021 in the Gazette last Friday, replacing the High Court Rules, 1971, which have been in force for 50 years and have been amended nearly 40 times. They also replace the following rules: · the High Court (Criminal) Rules of 1964 · the High Court of…
By Veritas Are people who have been summoned to give evidence before Parliament or a parliamentary committee entitled to refuse to answer questions put to them? This issue arose when Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee [PAC] was conducting investigations into the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration [ZINARA] pursuant to reports on that body compiled by the Auditor-General. According…
By Veritas In terms of section 72 of the Companies and Other Business Entities Act [which we shall refer to as “the Act” in this bulletin], all companies are required to keep a register of beneficial owners – who, as we shall explain in more detail below, are the individuals who control the companies or who hold…
By Kumbirai Mafunda ZIMBABWE Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has asked the Ministry of Health and Child Care to issue proper vaccination cards to people who would have been vaccinated against coronavirus to avoid compromising the ongoing countrywide inoculation programme. In a letter written to Health and Child Care Minister Constantino Chiwenga, ZLHR lawyer Paidamoyo…
By Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights GWANDA – Villagers of Polite, Manonkwe, Stanmore, and Mahlokohloko villages in Gwanda North have blamed school curricular that is not holistic and advances in technology for rising cases of sexual relations with and between minors. The villagers argued that information being taught in schools was not proving to be…
By Innocent Ferris Rupapa Introduction The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed our vulnerabilities even further and brought to light our broken relationship with nature. The same pandemic has pushed humans to forge new and better strategies for interaction and doing business. Travel restrictions and lockdown measures that have been imposed by nations across the world to…
By Desire Tshuma South Africa Council of Churches (SACC) has noted with deep concern the violence and destruction of property that is engulfing South Africa since Thursday 8 July last week after the imprisonment of former South African President Jacob Zuma The violence is resulting in untold suffering in many quarters of the society and…
By Veritas The thirtieth amendment to the Lock-down Order was published on the 13th July, in SI 198 of 2021, and can be accessed on the Veritas website [link]. Its general effect is to tighten and extend the Level IV lock-down, as we shall explain in this bulletin. A consolidated version of the Lockdown Order is…
Judiciary services delivery is being positively impacted by technological advancements, The Minister of Information Communication Technology (ICT), Postal and Courier Services has said. Minister Muswere made the remarks during the ICT Training Workshop for the Judiciary Services Commission that was held at the Meikles Hotel in Harare today. “ICTs are helping increase productivity, efficiency, and…
In an effort to strengthen bilateral relations between Turkey and Zimbabwe spanning politics and the economy, the speakers of Parliament for the two friendly nations are meeting in the Turkish capital Ankara. Turkey and Zimbabwe should deepen their economic relations, the Head of the Turkish Parliament, Mustafa Şentop was quoted by the Daily Sabah on…
By Kumbirai Mafunda A ZIMBABWEAN COURT has ordered Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga and Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Hon. Kazembe Kazembe to pay more than US$10 000 to a couple that was roughed up by some law enforcement agents while claiming to be suppressing an anti-government protest in 2019. Harare Magistrate…
By Paidamoyo Muzulu THIRTY-FOUR years is a long time. A very long time for Zimbabweans who still survive with the fear of the State security boot on their necks. Unfortunately, it seems even the so-called new dispensation is reluctant to domesticate the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment…
By Bernard Chiketo Angela slowly lifts from an awkward stooping position at the edge of her small smart and tidy yard. Halfway up – back arced to a bow, hips tilted up, she makes a laboured trot as she races this reporter to her small khaki cardboard and black plastic shack which sways in a…
