[This is how things really work in Zimbabwe. Jan]

Michael Majuru, a former senior Zimbabwean judge has said that Enock Kamushinda, a local businessman with strong links to the government and a CIO operative offered him a farm if he upheld a government decision to close down the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), publishers of the Daily News and the Daily News on Sunday. Majuru, an Administrative Court Judge President until he fled Zimbabwe last year talked of how the government used a carrot and stick approach to force him to rule in favour of the government. In an interview with the Daily News Online on Friday, the self- exiled former judge opened up and narrated how justice minister Patrick Chinamasa directly and indirectly exerted pressure on him to delay the ANZ case and subsequently throw the case out. The former judge also talked about how the members of the dreaded spy agency, CIO, became part of his convoy wherever he went. Majuru presided over the case in which the ANZ sought to have the Media and Information Commission (MIC)™s decision to deny the newspaper a licence nullified. But the former judge was later forced to recuse himself in November after government-controlled media alleged that he had told a member of the public that he would rule in favour of ANZ.

A month before that, on October 24, 2003, Majuru had ruled that the MIC should issue a licence to the Daily News by November 30, failing which the paper would be deemed to have been registered. Majuru had been presiding over one of the numerous cases involving the ANZ which has appealed several times against government orders that it be shut down. That decision was set aside when the commission appealed against the ruling, but the Daily News went back to the administrative court to have it enforced. It was that anticipated ruling, seeking the enforcement of the earlier order, which saw the judge accused of unprofessional conduct. He recused himself from the case and another judge, Selo Nare, took over, who also ruled in favour of the Daily News. “Three days before the judgment, Kamushinda called me to his office through a CIO operative saying he had some business to discuss with me. But when I got there he started talking about the Daily News. He asked me whether I had a farm and when I responded in the negative he said he could organise a farm for me and that the government had promised to provide me with inputs and money to finance the venture.

“But this would be on condition that I ruled in favour of the MIC. I told him that I could not discuss the issue of the Daily News with him as this would be unethical. But he persisted, saying that he had a lot of influence and that the government had already identified a farm that was complete with a farm house and equipment for me. I refused his offer,” said Majuru. Majuru said it was after he had refused Kamushinda™s offer that Chinamasa stepped in and asked him to delay the ANZ case by three months. “On 23 October, Chinamasa called me from Bulawayo where he was attending a pre-budget seminar and asked me what the judgment on the ANZ case would be. He said he was concerned that my judgment could land him in trouble and added that it was not yet appropriate for the Daily News to publish. He said the government wanted the newspaper to resume operations in January 2004, time which he thought Zanu PF would have reached an agreement with the MDC. I received another call from Chinamasa on Friday 24 October after I had delivered judgment and he was shouting at me and accusing me of basing my judgment on other reasons that had nothing to do with the law. I switched off the phone after it became apparent that he was being abusive,” added Majuru.

Both Chinamasa and Kamushinda were unreachable for comment on Friday. Kamushinda was the chairman of the Grain Marketing Board and Zimbabwe Newspapers, both state-owned entities. A recent report by the African Union™s executive committee accused the Zimbabwean government of undermining the independence of the judiciary through interference. Several international bodies have also lambasted the Harare regime of meddling in judicial matters. Close to 10 judges, including former chief justice Anthony Gubbay, have left the bench over the last four years because of harassment by government ministers and officials. Majuru said real trouble started when the ANZ came back to the Administrative Court to have his earlier judgment enforced. He said Chinamasa started calling him again and also used another judge at the same court to tell Majuru that the government expected a favourable ruling from him. “This was when I noticed that I was under surveillance. CIOs were trailing me all over I went and I was feeling very uncomfortable. Chinamasa called me one Monday night, a day before hearing the second application and demanded to know the judgment. I told him that it was not normal for judges to pass judgments before hearing the arguments and as a lawyer himself he ought to know that. He then said that he had received information that I was working with British agents to bring back the Daily News and destabilise the country and warned me to be careful,” said Majuru.

But Chinamasa was not done: “Immediately after I spoke to him, a fellow judge called me and said she had been told by the minister to instruct me that he wanted a favourable judgment. “In fact he wanted to know the judgment before attending a cabinet meeting at 9am where he had to brief his colleagues on the matter. Fifteen minutes after talking to my fellow judge, Chinamasa called again and said he wanted to meet me in his office at 8.30 am on Tuesday before he attended a Cabinet meeting. This was the same day I was going to hear the ANZ case as well.” Majuru said it was in Chinamasa™s office that he offered to recuse himself after the minister showed him newspaper reports alleging that he had told members of the public that he would rule in favour of ANZ. I knew it was all cooked up to tarnish my name but then I also thought that the harassment would stop once I recused myself from the case. What worried me was that even after dropping from the case I continued to see CIO agents trailing me on my way home. I was no longer clear of their intentions and I was worried that they could harm me or my family, especially with those guys™ track record. I thought the best thing would be for me to just leave the country,” said the former judge.

Source: WWW.ZwNews.Com