Magistrate slammed
Magistrate Judith Taruvinga was slammed on Monday by the High Court over her conviction and sentencing of pro-democracy campaigner Makomborero Haruzivishe. In their exhortation, high court judges Justice Benjamin Chikowero and Justice Happias Zhou described her judgment as “fundamentally misdirected” and it wasn't “through”
JUST IN: 2 High Court Judges Justice Benjamin Chikowero&Justice Happias Zhou have slammed Harare Magistrate Judith Taruvinga by describing her conviction&sentence of pro-democracy campaigner @MakomboreroH as "fundamentally misdirected" &stated that her judgment was "not thorough" pic.twitter.com/DPN93hafvR
— ZLHR (@ZLHRLawyers) October 3, 2022
It is said that the magistrate rushed her judgment without verifying whether the evidence brought before her was the witness's evidence.
What the High Court is saying is that, the witnesses said something which exonerated @MakomboreroH but the magistrate wrote something else. We had to sue for the record to be corrected. We had evidence that what was recorded wasn't the testimony of witnesses. We feel vindicated. pic.twitter.com/1NEwYqw6tN
— @obeyshava1 (@obeyshava1) October 3, 2022
It has become common for magistrates and judges to make questionable rulings in cases that involve pro-democracy campaigners and activists. MPs Job Sikhala and Hon. Sithole and other CCC members from Nyatsime have been in remand for more than 200 days now and have been repeatedly denied bail without any reasons proffered. Recently award-winning author Tsitsi Dangarembga and her co-accused Julie Barnes were convicted for raising placards demanding reforms at a protest in 2020.
While it’s the HC judgement is OK but it’s not fair how Judith Taruvinga maliciously convicted me.
She even had guts to jail visit me soon after ZanuPf psychos tried to strangle me at midnight.
To err is human & to forgive is divine.
I’m human, I will never forgive!— Makomborero Haruzivishe (@MakomboreroH) October 3, 2022
Advocate Thabani Mpofu bemoans the state of affairs at the courts.
The judiciary must keep all excesses in check; that is its role. When that is lost, nothing remains. Everyone, good or bad, must ensure that the judiciary is kept above any trace of suspicion. That is a civic responsibility. Let the COURT be the rock, that is higher than politics pic.twitter.com/U7ybLJFJaZ
— Thabani Mpofu (@adv_fulcrum) October 2, 2022
It is to be seen whether the rap on Magistrate Judith Taruvinga means a change in direction for the courts or it is an isolated event. The fate of Sikhala, Sithole, and the Nyatsime 16 will give us a full picture of what our judiciary system now represents.