Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. By Mary Taruvinga –
FIVE Constitutional Court (ConCourt) judges were Thursday sworn in at a ceremony presided over by Acting Chief Justice Elizabeth Gwaunza.
The five are judges are; Ben Hlatshwayo, Paddington Garwe, Anne-Marie Gowora, Rita Makarau and Bharat Patel who will constitute the full bench of the Constitutional Court together with the Acting Chief Justice Gwaunza.
The five were confirmed as Concourt judges by President Emmerson Mnangagwa Wednesday after attending public interviews in September last year.
Before the latest appointments the five judiciary officers were acting ConCourt judges.
Speaking to the media after the swearing-in ceremony, Justice Ministry secretary Virginia Mabhiza, said the new appointments showed there was no constitutional crisis in Zimbabwe.
“There is no crisis at all, the courts are functional and as you can see today we have witnessed the appointment of judges.”
Her comments follow statements issued by lawyers challenging, as a constitutional crisis, the extension by President Emmerson Mnangagwa of former Chief Justice Luke Malaba’s term of office by another five-year term.
However, Malaba’s extension was reversed by High Court judges who ruled that it was “unconstitutional”.
The state has since appealed against the ruling at the Supreme Court.
“We normally do not wish to comment on cases before the courts but the fact that we have noted an appeal on behalf of the government shows the confidence that we have. That is what I can only say now since the matter is sub judice,” Mabhiza told journalists.
Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, who reacted to the High Court judgment by who brazenly threatened judges for blocking Malaba’s reappointment, refused to speak to the media claiming he was in a rush before referring all questions to Mabhiza.
