The commission, sworn in by President Robert Mugabe at State House on March 31, is also not properly weighted in terms of gender balance. It is the first body tasked with investigating cases of rights abuses. While the Constitution says the commission is supposed to strike a 50-50 gender balance, with four men and four women, it actually has three women. Of the eight officials constituting the commission, only four have a background in human rights: the chairman Professor Reg Austin, a former Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Zimbabwe who was also former head of Commonwealth Secretariats Constitutional and Legal Affairs Division; his deputy, Dr Ellen Sithole, who is a lecturer of law at the University of Zimbabwe; Joseph Kurebwa, a lecturer of Political Science at the University of Zimbabwe and Elasto Mugwadi, a lawyer and Chief Immigration Officer in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
No background
The rest of the commissioners work in fields which have absolutely nothing to do with human rights. Yet the Constitution says all members must be chosen for their knowledge and experience in the promotion of social justice or the protection of human rights and freedoms. Dr Kwanele Jirira is a lecturer at the Institute of Development Studies, Agrarian and Labour Studies at the University of Zimbabwe, Professor Carroll Khombe is a lecturer of Animal Science at the National University of Science and Technology in Bulawayo. While Jacob Mudenda is a lawyer by profession, he has become more preoccupied with politics. He is a well-known member of Zanu (PF)’s Politburo and is a former provincial governor and Zanu (PF) chairman for Matabeleland North.
The other commissioner, Dr Japhet Ndebeni-Ncube, is actually a businessman and former MDC Mayor of Bulawayo. Nomathemba Neseni is a social worker and currently serves as executive director of the Institute of Water and Sanitation Development. However, analysts have said that the three commissions were “politically balanced” with technocrats and officials with ties to Zanu (PF) and the MDC, and knowledge in human rights was overlooked in the selection.
Gender inequality
“There were only three women sworn in and five men,” said legal and parliamentary affairs thinktank, Veritas. “Presumably this was an oversight. It means that the Commission is not properly constituted. This defect will have to be put right as a matter of urgency, to ensure the validity of acts performed by the commission. Presumably one of the male members will have to resign to allow for a fourth woman to be appointed.” Legal experts have also raised concerns about the commission’s Act of Parliament being administered by Justice and Legal Affairs minister Patrick Chinamasa, a hard line member of President Mugabe’s inner circle.
“This is illogical, given that the President has assigned responsibility for the Constitution, which enshrines human rights and under which the Commission is appointed, to the Minister of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs,” Veritas said. Besides the glaring inadequacies, the commission has not been allocated any money under the 2010 national budget. The ZHRC is part of several commissions to be formed by Zimbabwes power-sharing government as part of reforms meant to reshape and democratise Zimbabwes politics.
Post published in: Politics