Officially opening this year's judiciary year, Makarau said she was confident that President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party and the two factions of the MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Premier Arthur Mutambara would lead by example and respect the courts.
"We are heartened to know that our interpretation of the constitution and the laws of the land will be respected by all parties to the agreement and by all individuals. We expect the three political parties to lead by example," Makaru said.
"We are also confident that as part of adhering to the principles of the rule of law, the three political parties and the government of national unity will do all that is in their respective powers to uphold the principle of the independence of the judiciary for there can be no rule of law without an independent judiciary."
Zimbabwe’s bench – purged of independent judges by Mugabe – is often accused by human rights groups of lacking courage to defend the rights of citizens.
The Judge President, appointed to the High Court in 2000 when Mugabe began re-moulding the bench, also bemoaned the shortages of judges, their poor remuneration and conditions of service which she said were so unattractive that no new appointments could be made to the bench.
"That conditions of service are so scandalous is now common knowledge. That the nation cannot have new judges appointed to the bench without first improving on the conditions of service of sitting judges goes without saying.
The Judge President expressed concern on the number of judges serving the populace saying the shortage was particularly felt in the Bulawayo High Court.
"For the best part of the year, the station had three judges only and due to its size, catering as it does for the southern part of the country, the three judges were overwhelmed."
Lawyers, magistrates and prosecutors are among a host of skilled workers including teachers, doctors, nurses and engineers who have fled Zimbabwe to neighbouring countries and as far afield as Britain and the United States in search of better pay and living conditions during the country’s decade-long economic meltdown.
Mugabe and Tsvangirai last February formed a coalition government following an inconclusive election. The 11-month old government has done well to stabilise Zimbabwe’s economy and end inflation that was estimated at more than a trillion percent at the height of the country’s economic meltdown last year.
As a result living conditions for ordinary Zimbabweans have greatly improved compared to 2008 when the country battled shortages of cash, fuel and every basic survival commodity.
But unending bickering between ZANU PF and MDC as well as the coalition government’s inability to secure direct financial support from rich Western nations have held back the administration’s efforts to rebuild the economy.
The MDC accuses Mugabe of flouting the global political agreement that gave birth to the unity government after the veteran leader refused to rescind his unilateral appointment of two of his allies to the key posts of central bank governor and attorney general.
Mugabe has also refused to swear in MDC treasurer Roy Bennett as deputy agriculture minister and to appoint members of Tsvangirai’s party as provincial governors.
On its part ZANU PF insists it has done the most to uphold the power-sharing deal and instead accuses the MDC of reneging on promises to campaign for lifting of Western sanctions on Mugabe and his top allies. – ZimOnline
