The fallout in the legal fraternity continues as a handful
of lawyers embarked on a march dubbed #MarchForJustice yesterday, confirming
revelations by The Herald on Monday that shadowy forces had roped in some
Harare-based lawyers to demonstrate against the Judiciary.
Part of the plot to undermine the Judiciary also involves
frustrating due processes through vexatious appeals. The actions are in
solidarity with anti-Government protests spearheaded by the opposition
MDC-Alliance, leading to wanton violence and destruction of property.
Led by Ms Beatrice Mtetwa, known for her anti-Government
stance, the lawyers, who were waving placards some of which were inscribed “No
2 Command Justice”, “Fast-Tracked Justice”, “Justice Hurried is Justice
Denied”, marched from Zambia House to the Constitutional Court in Harare.
On arrival at the apex court Ms Mtetwa and her team handed
over a petition for the attention of Chief Justice Luke Malaba.
Acting Judicial Service Commission secretary Mr Walter
Chikwana received the petition on behalf of the Chief Justice.
The protestors were mainly members of pro-opposition
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, which has been identified as one of the
non-governmental organisations behind recent protests by the MDC-Alliance and
its civil society partners meant to subvert the constitutional order.
Herald sources revealed that there were attempts to capture
the Law Society of Zimbabwe to endorse the anti-government stance by a section of lawyers led by Mr Douglas
Coltart and Ms Mtetwa.
This set the stage for a fiery meeting on Monday evening
that The Herald understands led to a schism in the fraternity with some senior
lawyers clashing with anti-government lawyers during the LSZ’s extraordinary
general meeting to discuss the state of the rule of law in the country.
Veteran lawyers accused ZLHR-led by Ms Mtetwa of hijacking
the meeting to push for an unwarranted demonstration against the judiciary
resulting in the meeting ending prematurely, without resolutions.
The Herald understands Ms Mtetwa and her camp irked some
members of the society after trying to loop them in their bid to soil the
reputation of the judiciary.
According to the sources, Ms Mtetwa, Doug Coltart and
another lawyer, one Emma Drury, wanted to capture the LSZ and force a vote in
favour of yesterday’s march.
“It became clear very early in the meeting that Beatrice
Mtetwa and Douglas Coltart, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights had arranged
to use the meeting to rubberstamp a decision they had already made,” said one
of the sources.
“They wanted to submit a petition during the march. One of
them, Emma Drury, stood up during the meeting and said that they did not care
about the process. She said they already had the petition and urged members not
to waste time with the process saying the march against the judiciary should
proceed with their march.”
Drury, said the source, made the remarks while responding
to the LSZ president who had told the members that the meeting was for
consulting members and had nothing to do with the protest march.
Contributing to the discussion, Ms Mtetwa is said to have
asked members to share their experiences in court while defending their
clients. This irked some senior lawyers who felt the meeting was being diverted
from its agenda and sought an explanation from the society’s president.
“At that juncture, other senior members asked the president
to close the meeting prematurely after realisation that these people had
pre-arranged so that they come in large numbers and force a vote to march
tomorrow,” said the source.
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