Mary Zimba-Dube

At the time of Mary Zimba Dube's appointment as Acting Judge President, Justice Garainesu Mawadze of the Masvingo High Court was the most senior High Court judge followed by Justice Martin Makonese of the Bulawayo High Court with Justice Dube only third.

Professor Lovemore Madhuku said the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) could not appoint an Acting Judge President saying:

“The JSC cannot appoint an Acting Judge President. It’s a very serious scandal in itself because it has no power to do that. If the president had made the appointment, we would also ask what instrument he used."

Madhuku said whereas section 340 allows the president to make appointments, it also states that he can only do so in cases “except as otherwise provided in this constitution,” and section 181(2)(a) under which the JSC said it was acting was a “default position”.

JSC secretary Walter Chikwana said Justice Mary Zimba Dube was appointed Acting Judge President because she was the most senior at the High Court in Harare at the time and Mawadze was in Masvingo.

Another lawyer said the constitution states that the next most senior judge should be appointed the Judge President not ‘provided such a judge is stationed at Harare.’^[1]

Judge President

Mary Zimba-Dube was appointed as the new Judge President on 25 July 2021 becoming the second woman to occupy the top High Court office after Justice Rita Makarau.^[2] Zimba-Dube was sworn in on 27 July 2021 by Luke Malaba

Notable Rulings

Covid-19 Information

On 21 January 2021, Mary Zimba-Dube ordered Health and Information ministers to widely disseminate “comprehensive and adequate information” on private and public testing, isolation and treatment of the Covid-19 pandemic.^[3]

References