By Kumbirai Mafunda High Court Judge Justice Tawanda Chitapi on Friday 7 June 2019 set free four human rights campaigners, who had spent more than two weeks in prison after they were arrested last month and charged with subverting a constitutional government. The four human rights defenders namely George Makoni, Tatenda Mombeyarara, Gamuchirai Mukura and…
By Kumbirai Mafunda High Court Judge Justice Nicholas Mathonsi will on Thursday 06 June 2019 hear an urgent chamber application filed by the family of a Mutare man seeking an order to compel Zimbabwean authorities to conduct a post-mortem examination on the body of their deceased relative who was shot dead by a former police…
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) is holding an Electoral Reforms Petition workshop to review the legal framework governing elections in light of the petition submitted to Parliament by ZESN on the 3rd December 2018. The workshop is attended by the Speaker of Parliament, Honourable Advocate Jacob Mudenda and Members of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on…
By Byron Mutingwende Social dialogue is an effective tool for people to find each other, forge a new national vision and commit to walk together towards a common purpose, Ms Hopolang Phororo, the Director of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Country Office for Zimbabwe and Namibia has said. Ms Phororo made the remarks…
By Own Correspondent A group of suspected security agents reportedly besieged the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition Chairperson, Mr. Rashid Mahiya’s residence at around 5AM. The men spent 30 minutes knocking violently at his door and refused to identify themselves. Mahiya was arrested in February following the January 2019 clampdown by the state on civil society…
By Kumbirai Mafunda Karoi Magistrate Sam Chitumwa on Friday 31 May 2019 acquitted three aides of human rights lawyer and opposition political party leader Hon. Tendai Biti, who had been on trial for allegedly violating the country’s immigration laws. Biti’s lawyer Nqobizitha Mahole Mlilo and two of the opposition legislator’s aides Clever Rambanepasi, and Tawanda…
By Kumbirai Mafunda Four human rights defenders (HRDs) who were arrested for allegedly plotting to overthrow President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government will endure more jail time after a High Court Judge deferred delivery of his ruling on their bail application to next week. The four HRDs namely George Makoni, Tatenda Mombeyarara, Gamuchirai Mukura and Frank Nyasha…
The National Association of Non Governmental Organisations (NANGO) has noted with great concern the continued arrests of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) officials and sternly condemned efforts to inhibit operations of civil society by Government. The association argued that the shrinking of civic space is exacerbating by day and this is against the expectations of…
By Kumbirai Muafunda Two civil society leaders were on Tuesday 28 May 2019 arrested upon arrival at Robert Mugabe International Airport and immediately detained at Harare Central Police Station amid indications that Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officers want to charge them with subverting constitutional government. Rita Nyampinga, the Director of Female Prisoners Support Trust and…
By Tatenda Mujeyi The Deaf Zimbabwe Trust (DTZ) has urged government to amend the Education Amendment Bill to make it more inclusive for people with disabilities (PWDs). The call follows efforts by the government to enhance inclusivity through being a signatory to treaties and conventions and the need to accommodate PWDs in all national processes….
Pan-African Parliament to establish African Parliamentarian Caucus on Immunisation The Pan-African Parliament has adopted a resolution on the establishment of an African Parliamentarian Caucus on Immunisation, to drive forward the body’s commitment to ensuring that all children across the continent have access to the vaccines they need. “Expanding access to immunisation will help lay the…
Public Prosecutors Public prosecutors in the High Court are reported to have “downed tools” after one of their number was arrested, allegedly for agreeing that a prominent former politician who is awaiting trial on corruption charges should be given back his passport. The prosecutors suggested that the arrest was instigated by a Special Anti-Corruption Unit in…
By Kumbirai Mafunda The Supreme Court will on Friday 24 May 2019 preside over the hearing and determination of an appeal filed by Gift Machoka Konjana of MDC Alliance party who is seeking an order to overturn the Electoral Court’s decision confirming Dexter Nduna of the ruling ZANU PF party as the legislator for Chegutu…
By ZLHR Information Department Three opposition political party legislators have slapped government with a lawsuit demanding more than $20 000 as compensation for violation of their fundamental rights when some law enforcement agents assaulted them in Parliament in November 2018. The three opposition MDC party legislators namely Hon. Lynette Karenyi (Proportional Representation), Hon. Thabitha Khumalo…
By Talkmore Thulani Gandiwa Twitter, WhatsApp and Facebook have transformed the way political figures interact with their constituencies. Fifteen years ago, campaigns were drastically different. Reflect back to Robert Mugabe Vs Morgan Tsvangirai election of 2002. There was hardly social media. Facebook was to be launched two years after these elections, and when it came…
By Tatenda Mujeyi The Judicial Services Commission (JSC) is committed to uplifting standards of the country’s courts through renovations and building new courts. The revelation was made by most speakers at the official opening of the Labour Court in Rotten Row Harare. The Labour Court was officially opened by the President Emmerson Mnangagwa, following commencement…
By Staff Reporter Media reforms are an imperative if Zimbabwe is to fully embrace the human and constitutional rights of freedoms of the press, association and assembly. Media rights are guaranteed in the Zimbabwe constitution in Section 61 and 62 and globally in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. The revelations were made at…
By Veritas Introduction Corporal punishment ‒ the beating of a person with a cane or stick as punishment for committing a crime ‒ has been a sentence that Zimbabwean courts could impose on convicted criminals, usually as an alternative to imprisonment but sometimes in addition to it. The courts always treated it as a severe punishment,…
By Jacob Mafume (MDC Spokesperson) We have just been advised of the High Court of Zimbabwe judgement issued by Justice Edith Mushore today. We fundamentally disagree with the judgement. The choice of leaders of any political party, the world over is the sole preserve of the members of that party. It can never be a…
As South Africans approach voting day, African Parliamentarians have gathered in Midrand for the commencement of the second ordinary session of the fifth legislature of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP). The Pan-African Parliament President, the Rt. Hon. Roger Nkodo DANG haswishedSouth Africa successful polls on Wednesday the 8 May 2019 and also thanked the host country for ensuring…
By CHRA Information Section 74 of the country’s constitution grants freedom from arbitrary eviction and states that ‘No person may be evicted from their home, or have their home demolished, without an order of court made after considering all the relevant circumstances’. The Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) is deeply concerned over the continued demolition…
The second ordinary session of the fifth Parliament of the Pan-African Parliament will take place in Midrand, from Monday the 6 to 17 May 2019. The President of the Republic of Madagascar, H.E Andry RAJOELINA, is expected to address the Plenary during the opening ceremony scheduled for Monday the 6 May, at the precincts located at…
By Veritas The Education Amendment Bill The parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Primary and Secondary Education is currently holding public hearings on the Education Amendment Bill, which was published earlier this year. In this Bill Watch Veritas analyses the Bill in order to assist the Committee and interested parties debate it at the public hearings. Education…
An independent pathologist on Friday 12 April 2019 conducted a post-mortem examination on the body of Witness Mashereni, who died last month under mysterious circumstances after his family’s lawyers successfully petitioned the High Court to be granted access to conduct the autopsy to ascertain the cause of death. Witness’s father Christopher Mashereni, engaged the services…
By Courts correspondent Prosecutor General Kumbirai Hodzi’s appeal against flamboyant Harare business Genius Kadungure’s acquittal on charges of fraud recently fell by the wayside after the top prosecutor’s application seeking leave to appeal was dismissed by the High Court. Kadungure was last year charged alongside Wicknell Chivayo on two counts of fraud but the later…
By Veritas The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa is commonly called the Maputo Protocol as it was adopted in Maputo, Mozambique, in July 2003. It entered into force in November 2005 after 15 of the then 53 African States had ratified it. To date out…
A lawyer and some aides for tormented opposition party leader and human rights lawyer Tendai Biti on Wednesday 10 April 2019 pleaded not guilty to charges of violating the country’s immigration laws when their trial commenced before Karoi Provincial Magistrate Sam Chitumwa. The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human rights (ZLHR) reported that Hon. Biti’s lawyer Nqobizitha…
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights have reported that Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Senator Cain Mathema and Prosecutor-General Kumbirai Hodzi risk serving a three-month jail term after they were convicted of contempt of court by the High Court for ignoring the court’s order for them to pay US$18 075 to pro-democracy campaigner Cynthia…
The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) and the Africa Disability Alliance (ADA) are set to embark on regional consultative meetings aimed at paving way for an African Model Disability Law. The consultative engagements will be held from 7 to 13 April 2019 in Morocco and Kenya. These consultations follow the adoption of a resolution of a Draft…
Children’s rights proponent, Nyaradzo Mashayamombe has said the new Education Bill that the government of Zimbabwe recently gazetted provides hope for the more than 27% children of school going age who are currently out of school. Mashayamombe said the chief reason for children failing to go to school is the inability by their parents or…
By Obert Masaraure – ARTUZ President Amalgamated Rural Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe, ARTUZ notes the strides made by government in modernising our education system through the education act amendment bill of 2018. We note the thrust of improving accessibility of education through the emphasis of state funded basic education. We however noted gaps in addressing…
Ghana has become the twelfth (12) African Union (AU) member state to ratify the Protocol to the constitutive act of the AU relating to the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), also known as the Malabo Protocol. The Malabo Protocol is intended to extend the powers of the PAP into a fully-fledged legislative organ. It requires a minimum…
THE Zimbabwe Civil Liberties and Drug Network (ZCLDN) has welcomed the recent announcement made by the Government that it wants to repeal a legal provision that criminalises wilful transmission of HIV/AIDS to a partner in keeping in line with global trends and standards. Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Ziyambi Ziyambi said the proposed amendments…
The African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security has appealed to the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) Legislators to encourage member states to sign, ratify and domesticate the instruments presented by the African Union. Commissioner Smail Chergui addressed the Permanent Committees of the fifth Parliament of the Pan-African Parliament that took place in Midrand, South Africa. Putting emphasis on the…
There appears to have been a major increase in crime, including violent crime, in Harare, judging by reports received by Safeguard Security from its customers and other sources. In an update to customers, Safeguard said that the number of incidents of theft or attempted theft or robbery in Harare reported to it in February was…
The Zimbabwe lawyers for Human Rights has reported that authorities have arrested and charged a man with undermining authority of or insulting President Emmerson Mnangagwa after he allegedly stated that he disliked him for mismanaging the country’s economy. 32 year-old Farai Gwaza of Dindi village in Pfungwe, Mashonaland East province was arrested early this month…
By Byron Mutingwende Available statistics have shown that women with disabilities often suffer double or triple discrimination in society, a workshop by Deaf Women Included revealed. In his presentation on issues and policy gaps affecting women with disabilities at a workshop held in Harare on 4 March 2019, Professor Lincoln Hlatywayo, a Senior Lecturer of…
VERITAS Zimbabwe has launched an Interactive Women’s Platform. It will provide information on the rights and status of women in Zimbabwe and also information on where to turn and what legal options are available if women feel their rights are being violated or ignored. Women who interact on the platform will become more knowledgeable on…
The workshop, co-organised with the African Business Law Firms Association (ABFLA) under the African Legal Support Facility Academy, was held in Accra, Ghana, from 14-15 February, 2019 The African Legal Support Facility (www.AfLSF.org) has completed a two-day workshop for African lawyers and government negotiators, aimed at strengthening their capacity to negotiate complex deals involving investments…
By Veritas Introduction A document purporting to emanate from the Public Relations Directorate at Army Headquarters has been circulating on social media, warning the public that the ZNA (the Zimbabwe National Army) will be conducting “snap searches” in residential areas in order to find stolen army uniforms and similar clothing. The document states that the…
The Zimbabwe Layers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has reported that MDC-Alliance Vice-Chairperson Hon. Tendai Biti has filed an appeal in the High Court challenging his conviction and sentence for contravening some provisions of the Electoral Act. Hon. Biti filed the appeal against both conviction and sentence after Harare Magistrate Gloria Takundwa on Monday 18 February…
Following an extensive and comprehensive forensic audit carried out by a reputable international audit firm, the Amnesty International Zimbabwe Board (AIZ Board) has uncovered evidence of serious fraud and financial mismanagement by individuals in Amnesty International Zimbabwe. In response to these findings, the AIZ Board has notified the appropriate national law enforcement agencies and commenced…
By Byron Mutingwende The Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) has called for responsible mining, improved disaster management, safety and health following flash floods that killed artisanal and small-scale miners (ASM) at Battlefield Mine last week. “We should find solutions about responsible mining, disaster management, preparedness, safety and health within the artisanal and small-scale…
UN Women in Zimbabwe and the Chiefs Council of Zimbabwe have formed a partnership to accelerate the end of child marriage in the country. The partnership, agreed to in January 2019, led to the participation of three members of the Chiefs Council, led by the President Chief Fortune Charumbira, in high level meetings on ‘Transforming…
By Kumbirai Mafunda Harare Magistrate Gloria Takundwa on Monday 18 February 2019 sentenced human rights lawyer and MDC-Alliance Vice-Chairperson Hon. Tendai Biti to pay $200 fine after convicting him for contravening some provisions of the Electoral Act. Magistrate Takundwa convicted Hon. Biti after ruling that the State had managed to prove its case against the…
