Rule of law broken in Zimbabwe

At bleak times like these, when it seems there is little to be thankful for, we should pause and think about our northern neighbour, Zimbabwe.

We’re still a long way from a place where the judiciary actively works with a dictatorship to keep its citizens oppressed. Consider the case of award-winning Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin’ono, who has been in detention for almost a month now for “inciting violence” because he urged people to join a nationwide protest against the Zanu-PF government on 31 July.

Yesterday, Chin’ono was denied bail for the third time, with magistrate Ngoni Nduna remarking that “there is a high likelihood that there will be nationwide demonstrations” if he is released.

At a previous appearance, the government lackey Nduna prohibited internationally recognised lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa from defending Chin’ono on the grounds that she had “denigrated” the courts.

The reality is that the courts in Zimbabwe denigrate themselves by toeing the brutal government line. Just as it appears there is little justice in prospect for Chin’ono and any others who challenge the regime of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, so too, it seems that there will be no justice for ordinary Zimbabweans.

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