Zimbabwe Absurdity

So goes the slogan at the bottom of the notice put out by The Law Society of Zimbabwe in Thursday’s Financial Gazette.

A week ago today Jonathan Samkange, a leading black lawyer with whom I had dealings when I got into political trouble, was arrested. It is unclear why he was arrested; well it did not have much to do with anything legal according to the notice by the Law Society in the “FinGaz” or “Pink Paper” as it is known. In a strongly worded condemnation of the action the Law Society states: “We can not avoid the inference that Mr Samkange is being victimised because of his client’s cause, (the diamond saga*). To this end The Law Society castigates the malice and overzealousness exhibited by Police in arresting and unlawfully detaining him.” While by no means the only voice in the wilderness it is good to see that the Law Society is not afraid to make its voice heard. It is also pleasing to note that the case against Roy Bennett, the deputy Minister of Agriculture, is continually being thrown out of court. He was accused of “…possession of weaponry for insurgency, banditry, sabotage or terrorism in contravention of Section 10 (1) of the Public Order and Security Act and incitement to commit insurgency in contravention of Section 6 of the same Act”. Seriously!

While rule of law is continually being ignored in Zimbabwe there are those who are not intimidated by the government. Here’s to them.

* This refers to the plundering of the Marange diamond fields in the east of the country which are privately owned.