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Fidelis Munyoro

President Mnangagwa has appointed another Labour Court president Mrs Fatima Chakapamambo Maxwell to the High Court bench in an effort to meet the increased number of judicial officers created by the split of the Supreme and Constitutional Courts.

Justice Maxwell will be sworn-in tomorrow by Chief Justice Luke Malaba at the Constitutional Court.

She becomes the third Labour Court president to be elevated to the High Court after Justices Gladys Mhuri and Emilia Muchawa last month.

She was appointed to the bench in terms of the provisions of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, which provides for President Mnangagwa to make such appointments after consultation with the Judicial Service Commission.

Before her appointment to the Labour Court in July 2013, Justice Maxwell was the director — Civil division in the Attorney General’s Office.

The appointment of additional judges to High Court was necessitated by the need to fill in vacancies created when judges moved up the ladder.

The judiciary had seen a number of High Court judges moving to the Supreme Court to close the gap left by five judges that were moved to the new Constitutional Court, now a stand-alone court.

Her coming to the High Court is set to boost the manpower to cope with the increased volume of work.

The judiciary is gender sensitive hence more women are being appointed to the bench.