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Mr Walter Chikwanha

Senior Court Reporter
External deputy sheriffs will no longer be required for Manicaland and Bulawayo as the Judicial Service Commission has with effect from this month opened substantive sheriffs’ offices in those provinces.The JSC has been relying on hired deputy sheriffs who were responsible for serving High Court processes in all provinces.

With effect from January 2, Mr Macdoff Madega is the Sheriff of the High Court and additional sheriffs employed by the JSC have been deployed to the two provinces to represent him.

The JSC has deployed 10 additional sheriffs; six in Harare, two in Bulawayo and two in Mutare. In a statement, Chief Registrar Mr Walter Chikwana said Mrs Gumbo (Bulawayo), Mr Dzobo (Mutare), Mr Majoni (Rusape), Mr Mayeka (Chipinge) and Mr Mambemba (Nyanga) had been relieved of their duties as deputy sheriffs.

He said all High Court processes in Mutare would now be served by the Sheriff of the High Court, through additional sheriffs located at Cecil Chambers between First and Second Avenues in the city. In Bulawayo they are operating from the Old Post Office Building.
JSC deputy secretary Mr Rex Shana said the changes were designed to ensure uniform procedures.

“The deputy sheriffs that have been removed were not employees of the JSC. They were sub-contracted to do the job,” said Mr Shana.
The sheriff is responsible for serving High Court processes while the Messenger of Court deals with cases to do with the magistrates’ courts.

The Messenger of Court is also not an employee of the JSC but is appointed by the Minister of Justice and Parliamentary Affairs in consultation with the chief magistrate.