CLA President’s visit to Zimbabwe

On Sunday 18^th August 2019 after departing from Mombasa where I was guest of the Law Society of Kenya, I flew to Nairobi and then on to Harare, Zimbabwe.  I had been invited by Sekai Holland. Sekai had invited me to meet her colleagues in the National Peace Trust and to meet with the Vice Chancellor of the Midland State University, Gweru.

At the Commonwealth Law Conference in Livingston in April 2019, Sekai Holland was one of three keynote speakers. The other two were the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Baroness Scotland and the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. Sekai’s comments at her keynote address made a profound impact. She reported how she had been in opposition to the government of President Robert Mugabe and how she had been part of the government of national unity.  She also reported how she had been beaten and tortured by security forces. This resulted in her having to be airlifted as an emergency to Australia, a country in which her husband Jim Holland is a national. She needed to complete her rehabilitation in Chile.

She spoke movingly in Livingstone of her experience but what was clear was that her passion for peace, reconciliation and a resurgent Zimbabwe was undimmed.

Having received an invitation to attend the Law Society of Kenya Annual Conference in Mombasa I contacted Sekai to say that I was prepared to make a short stopover en route home to meet with her and her peace and conflict resolution team.

In all only 36 hours was spent in Zimbabwe but every one of these hours was filled with activity and insight. Having met me at the airport in the early evening Sekai then had arranged for a series of interviews to take place featuring me, the Vice Chancellor of the Midland State University and herself. The Midland State University featured significantly in this visit. It happens that Sekai and President Emmerson Mnangagwa are the co-patrons of MSU. Having given interviews into the late evening on Sunday 18^th August I found myself in a car at 6.30am leaving Harare to drive to Gweru in the midlands which was the location of the main campus of MSU.

Also in the car were members of the Board of the National Peace Trust, the excellent Michael Phiri, the superb Nyamutswa Shaleen and the magnificent Panganai Sithole. These people exhibited an energy for peacebuilding that is unsurpassable. It was a pleasure to spend time with them on the long car journey to Gweru. This journey allowed me to drive through Harare and note the absence of kerbside street vendors, the quality of the roads surface, the operation of traffic lights, adherence to lane discipline and  the rules of the road. As we emerged into the country we passed through small and larger towns and in all of these I observed order, cleanliness, quality buildings and a sense of the breadth of the fertile countryside.

Having reached Gweru a little late we were honoured to be met by the entire faculty of the University with professors and deans of each school being present. They introduced themselves and I then was able to introduce myself and the work of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association. MSU has a particularly strong music department and the choral group of that department sang welcome songs and the Zimbabwe National Anthem.

I then met with the dean of the gender institute and mentioned the CLA Report on Child Marriage. I met with the senior lecturer from the Peace Studies Institute who spoke passionately and eloquently about her work in terms of peace studies and I also met with the dean of the law school. As a result there seems to be the possibility of the CLA providing some form of capacity building regarding intellectual property particularly directed towards the arts for mediation and dispute resolution skills and training and support for their gender institute.

In meetings of ExCo and the CLA Council I hope to present these opportunities for the CLA to assist Zimbabwe through the National Peace Institute and the Midland State University by potentially providing training, expertise or at the very least contact and connections in these areas.

I do not rule out for example assembling a Commonwealth Lawyers team of Mediators to provide mediation training both to law students at Midland State University and if possible to practitioners through the Zimbabwe Law Society.

After Gweru the Sekai Holland car drove on to Bulawayo. There I met with an inspirational group of peace builders as a guest of the Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo Legacy Foundation. Gathered in a thatched building in the grounds of the house of former Vice President Joshua Nkomo it felt something like a council of elders discussing peace initiatives. Of particular relevance and impact was the presence of the eldest son of Joshua Nkomo Sibangilizwe Nkomo who spoke of the legacy of his father and of the importance of dialogue in peacebuilding.

After this long day I returned to Harare by a flight from Bulawayo to prepare for the next morning and final few hours in Harare.

The morning of my departure  comprised interviews with leading journalists and Zambian national television. My interviews were quoted extensively and the recognition factor of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association was very clearly emphasised. I visited the UK Ambassador and in discussions with her I took the opportunity of suggesting that the CLA stood ready and willing to provide assistance to help with capacity building, international best practice and general support and encouragement within Zimbabwe.

Perhaps the most significant meeting was my meeting with human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa. In March 2013 she was arrested ostensibly for representing her client and during the course of Beatrice’s protest of the police searching an office belonging to then Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Beatrice was put in prison and there spent 8 days. The CLA had issued a statement in her support.  I report separately on this meeting.

I also met with leading commercial lawyer Mr Muchadeyi (Much) Masunda, a leading sportsman in his youth, Much evolved from a legal practice into commercial and charitable activities. He is a Board member with Sekai Holland of the National Peace Trust. He has many connections and seems a most influential person within Zimbabwe having among other notable achievements been Mayor of Harare for 5 years.

In the 36 hours spent in Zimbabwe responding to Sekai’s invitation to meet her National Peace Trust there was insufficient time to meet any other legal officers or officials. This however will easily be corrected upon a return visit to Zimbabwe where I hope to be able to share with Sekai the fact that some support for the Midland State University peace studies, gender studies and faculty of law could be forthcoming. How this might be achieved will feature in CLA discussions both through ExCo and at the Council.

As was widely reported my experience of Zimbabwe was unhesitatingly positive. It is of course naive to consider that this is a normal society or that political differences have subsided. There is clearly a very troubled political and social context. However the visit by an outsider, a President of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association was handsomely received and greatly appreciated.

It is by dialogue and discussion that most conflicts are resolved and I emphasised that message in some interviews that were widely carried.

Sekai Holland was every bit as impressive in the 36 hours or so in which I spent in her company as she was on the key note speakers’ stage in Livingston, Zambia. At her age the energy she exhibits was simply fantastic and her passion for peace and her ability to leave in the past her experience of torture and beatings was inspirational. In fact the whole Zimbabwe experience was inspirational and deserving of ongoing CLA support in whatever way  we can provide it.

Brian Speers

President