Zimbabwe, under the Second Republic aims to attain an upper
middle income society by 2030 and a peaceful socio-political environment is key
to attainment of the vision and growth of the economy.
The country will hold harmonised elections later this year
and the ruling Zanu-PF Party has since conducted primaries in preparation for
the harmonised poll.
Addressing more than 200 magistrates and other stakeholders
who are attending the first ever Magistrates’ National Conference in Victoria
Falls today, CJ Malaba said magistrates play a key role as the primary judicial
officers that try cases of electoral violence or electoral malpractice.
He reiterated the call for impartiality and non-partisan
conduct for judicial officers.
“The purpose of designating magistrates with specific roles
in electoral adjudication is to designate them as the protectors and the
guardians of electoral freedom, fairness and human life and property.
“This purpose places an obligation on magistrates
designated to participate in the implementation of electoral law to have an
understanding of their roles and to fulfil them. An election is a means of
democratic participation enabling the aspirations of the nation to be openly
presented without fear of electoral injustice, thus facilitating the assembly
of these aspirations into a mutually beneficial national goal,” said CJ Malaba.
He said immediately after an election is called, the
Commissioner-General of Police, shall establish one or more special police
units to investigate cases of politically-motivated violence and intimidation
arising from the election.
The Judicial Service Commission shall also designate one or
more magistrates in each province to try cases involving politically–motivated
violence and intimidation, and the magistrates so designated shall give
priority to all such cases and ensure that they are brought to trial and
completed as expeditiously as possible.
The Prosecutor-General shall also ensure that during every
election period sufficient competent prosecutors are provided to ensure that
such cases are processed quickly and brought to court.
CJ Malaba said magistrates have both criminal and civil
jurisdiction and this constitutionally given capacity to adjudicate on civil
and criminal matters places them in the limelight of playing a part in the
specific areas of electoral law enforcement and adjudication.
In terms of the constitution and Magistrate’s Code of
Ethics, he said, magistrates should be impartial and not engage in any
political activities, not hold office in or be members of any political
organisation, solicit funds for or contribute towards any political
organisation or attend political meetings.
CJ Malaba said an electoral system must justly yield to the
will of the people of identifying the leader with the highest aptitude and
sensitivity to the common aspirations of the people and understanding of the
inherent conflicts of interest of his or her constituents.
He said the electoral law is intended to facilitate the
attainment of the purpose of an election, how the election must be conducted,
how the parties involved in an election must conform to the law and how
breaches of the law will be punished in the context of constitutional
democracy.
The electoral law is the heartbeat of an election and any
stakeholders in an election responsible for applying and enforcing electoral
law actually partake in the formation and sustenance of an ideal of
constitutional democracy, said the Chief Justice.
He said the nation must make the important decision of how
its people will organise themselves in order to achieve their shared
aspirations.
An electoral system must be able to connect the people to
their leader and common aspirations.
CJ Malaba said politically-motivated violence and
intimidation militate against the attainment of peace which is a necessary
catalyst for electoral freedom and fairness.
“In most cases, an election emerges as one of the key means
of ensuring political participation by a people who have submitted to a
political setup of constitutional governance. In this regard, an election
becomes a means of identifying a common representative to fulfil the social,
economic and political aspirations of the people. Chronicle
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