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Charlene Shumba

Correspondent

Zimbabwe’s justice system is under siege from foreign powers and their opposition proxies.

The dishonourable Peter Hain, a member of the House of Lords in Britain, on April 27 2021, under the misguided illusion that Zimbabwe remains Britain’s colonial dominion, wrote a letter to British Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, demanding the placement of additional sanctions against Harare.

Hain accuses Harare of being behind the fake abduction of the MDC Alliance threesome, Joana Mamombe, Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova.

He further cites what he calls sickness by Mamombe, which she has been using to delay and avoid being prosecuted.

The malingering by Mamombe, claiming to be sick when arrested, but fit as a fiddle when committing crime, has since been exposed for what it is by the honourable courts.

Magistrate Ms Vongai Guwuriro aptly described the behaviour by the trio, particularly Mamombe, observing that “as long as the first accused continues playing the mental incapacity game on one hand and committing further crimes on the other and gets freed on bail, it will remain a hurdle for the proper administration of justice.”

This is a typical case in which the administration of justice in general, and the courts in particular, are being sold a dummy by the accused.

She added that Mamombe was, “clearly dribbling the administration of justice, but the court must be able to see beyond that veil of deceit”.

Earlier in March 2021, another magistrate, Mr Dennis Mangosi, in a separate, but similar case, noted that “the accused committed other offences while on bail and that propensity is still there”.

The observations by the learned magistrates are surprisingly lost on Hain and the opposition, or is it? It is apparent that the serial criminal offences by Mamombe et al while on bail are a ploy to portray a deteriorating human rights record in Zimbabwe.

The idea being to invite international attention, as Hain is doing, to further noose Zimbabwe under a new regime of illegal unilateral sanctions.

The trio, together with other misguided MDC Alliance youths such as Makomborero Haruzivishe, are being used as political pawns by their principals to deliberately provoke the law.

Ironically, the unfortunate part is that their principals, including that party’s leader, Nelson Chamisa, and his secretary general, Chalton Hwende, covertly use dirty foreign money to pay the gullible youths to break the law, while they themselves practice smart lawful politics in public to avoid arrest.

The sickening ploy has seen the opposition machine roping in impressionable international Hollywood superstars such as South Africa born Thandiwe Newton.

She has of late been tweeting under the hash tag, Mercy for Mamombe. Being vacuous as she is, she unwittingly gave weight to allegations before the courts that Mamombe faked her abduction and has been guilty of offending Covid-19 regulations.

Mercy is only granted to the guilty, not accused. Newton is aware that the lot might be guilty of all the offences they are accused of, but is merely seeking for their mercy!

Dear reader, the trio has been using all manner of technicalities as a malingering ploy to vex the justice system.

The three’s trial is set to begin after their nefarious agenda to delay the delivery of justice has been exposed for what it is.

The technical and scientific evidence that will be placed before the courts, if the trial commences, will be  damning, hence the malingering. Their fake abduction case must commence and the rule of law must be seen to be done.

The leaked letter by Hain is aimed at intimidating Harare to interfere with judiciary processes.

It is intended to put pressure on law officers administering justice to baulk.

All this is unbridled interference by foreign nations which seek to conflate the Constitutional separation of powers among the three pillars of the State, itself the hallmark of democracy.

Neither the Executive, nor the Legislature, let alone foreign legislators, should interfere with judicial processes in Zimbabwe.

It offends democracy, worse still if it is a foreigner, it offends our sovereignty.

The threat of sanctions replete in Hain’s letter to Raab, is aimed to act as a Sword of Damocles on Harare in the event that the trio is convicted — and based on available incontrovertible evidence and their malingering — their conviction is inevitable.

The insulting letter by Hain is not only sickening, but downright despicable.

He writes as if he is a Lord of Harare. He treats Raab as if he is colonial Governor of Zimbabwe, itself a sovereign, independent nation that celebrated its 41st Independence Day celebrations on April 18 2021.

Hain condescendingly asks Raab that, “may I ask what steps HMG is taking to the Zimbabwean government to account for these gross violations of human rights [arrest of criminal elements]?”

This neo-colonial mentality that a sovereign nation, Zimbabwe, which has an elected President, can be brought to account by a mere Foreign Secretary from the country’s erstwhile coloniser is astonishing.

The United Nations Charter in Article 2(1) –(5), categorically states that, “the Organisation and its Members, in pursuit of the purposes stated in Article 1, shall act in accordance with the following principles:

The organisation is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its members…

All members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.”

The use of unilateral illegal sanctions against a sovereign State, outside the auspices of the UN, is inconsistent with the purpose of the UN with regard to respect for the sovereignty of nations.

It is in this context that Hain’s letter to Raab is distasteful and abhorrent. It is an affront to all that Zimbabwe stands for.

The rule of law must be seen to be left to take its natural course, without undue interference from any quarter, principally foreign ones.

Mamombe, Chimbiri and Marova must have their day in court and argue their case. No amount of foreign pressure, both overtly and covertly, will be allowed to take root in our democracy!