Category: News Feeds

“We were at the balcony of the ZCTU offices when the police started manhandling the [ZCTU] President [Peter Mutasa]. I thought it would be a good idea for us all to either sit down or follow the president to the police vehicle.

“That was when one of the police officers dragged me outside and began hitting me with a baton all over my body. He then bundled me into the police vehicle, together with President Mutasa and others,” he says, narrating his ordeal to Equal Times. “They beat us all the way to the police station, where we spent the night before appearing in court the following day,” he adds.

Chirowamari and six others arrested on that day were charged with bigotry (words or deeds that can result in a crime against public order) although the charges were later withdrawn.

And just last month, the acting president of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association, Dr Peter Magombeyi, made international headlines after he was abducted from his home in Harare by suspected state security agents for organising a strike by government doctors to demand better salaries.

Magombeyi was discovered four days later after being dumped in the bush 40 kilometres west of Harare. Allegedly tortured and poisoned by his captors, he underwent medical treatment in South Africa.

Worsening climate of fear

The stories of Chirowamari and Magombeyi are shared by hundreds of other trade unionists, opposition politicians and human rights activists whose right to freely assemble and associate is being trampled on by the Zanu-PF government, currently headed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

While Zimbabwe has ratified a number of international laws, including the International Labour Organization’s Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention (No. 98) and the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention (No. 87), the country lags dangerously behind in terms of implementation.

The repression of trade unionists has been a permanent scar on Zimbabwe’s political landscape since the early 1990s, but ever since President Mnangagwa took over from the late President Robert Mugabe in 2017, many say the climate of fear has worsened.

According to the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights, at least 18 people have been killed in demonstrations since Mnangagwa took power. Meanwhile hundreds of trade unionists and campaigners continue to be harassed, arrested, raped and abducted for peacefully gathering to express their frustration at living in a country with the second highest inflation rate in the world after Venezuela (161.8 per cent according to the IMF, although some economists have talked about an inflation rate of 570 per cent). Zimbabwe is also a country where unemployment levels and the cost of living continue to soar beyond all reasonable proportions, even by the minute, and where those who have jobs are rarely paid enough to survive – if they are paid at all.

ZCTU leaders President Peter Mutasa and Secretary General Japhet Moyo are currently on trial for “attempting to overthrow a constitutionally elected government or alternatively inciting violence” as a result of organising a six-day work ‘stay away’ in January 2019 against inflation, rising fuel costs and shortages of daily food essentials. Mutasa, Moyo, other members of the ZCTU leadership and their families have faced harassment and death threats in recent weeks. The court case has been postponed until 20 November and Moyo and Mutasa are facing a 20-year jail term if convicted. Twenty other trade unionists in the eastern border town of Mutare are also on trial (for bigotry) for engaging in a demonstration.

In February this year, Kwasi Adu Amankwah, secretary general of the International Trade Union Confederation’s (ITUC) regional body ITUC-Africa was detained for several hours while visiting Zimbabwe on a solidarity mission with the ZCTU.

“A toxic environment”

In September, thanks in part to lobbying from the international trade union movement, the Zimbabwe government invited the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association, Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, to assess the situation in the country – the first such visit to Zimbabwe by an expert appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council.

During his 10-day mission, Voule met with the ZCTU leadership, opposition political party leaders, community and civil society leaders, chiefs, the judiciary, the UN’s country team and a number of government ministers (though, notably, not the Minister of Labour, Sekai Nzenza).

Although a final report from the Togolese human rights expert will be presented at the Human Rights Council meeting in June 2020, he told members of the press at the end of mission: “Due to the current economic situation the country is facing, mass striking appears to be taking place regularly in the country. However, reactions by the authorities do not appear to be in line with their constitution and international commitments.”

Voule said he had heard “extremely disturbing reports of excessive, disproportionate and lethal use of force against protesters, through the use of tear gas, batons and live ammunition” and how trade union leaders had spoken of the “toxic environment of constant retaliation and fear” currently facing labour activists.

Although the draconian Public Order and Security Act of 2002 – which gives police the power to restrict marches, demonstrations and protests actions – will soon be replaced by the Maintenance of Peace and Order Bill, Voule said the latter still falls short of protecting the rights of citizens to peacefully assemble as it continues to “give law enforcement agencies broad regulatory discretion and powers”.

During his visit, Voule went to Hwange in north-west Zimbabwe to meet with the female relatives of workers at the Hwange Colliery who have not been paid in full since 2013. Until last year, the women had been peacefully camping on the mine premises in protest over US$4.6 million in unpaid salaries on behalf of their husbands, fathers and brothers, who were unable to strike for fear of dismissal. The company took the women to court on civil and criminal charges for trespassing, and some of the protesters received death threats. Voule described the Hwange case as demonstrating the “the role that non-state actors also play in creating an environment of fear” in Zimbabwe.

Government “desperate for re-engagement”

Voule also expressed concern at the slow pace in which much-needed labour law reforms are taking place. Zimbabwe’s unions urgently want public sector workers to enjoy the same rights to collectively bargain and strike as workers in the private sector. Amongst other measures, unions are also calling for an end to the casualisation of labour, an end to the late and non-payment of wages, the introduction of minimum redundancy packages and end to the victimisation of workers’ representatives.

The special rapporteur called on the government to create an enabling environment for civil society, protect the rights of citizens to organise and assemble, and withdraw all criminal charges against trade unionists. But Moyo tells Equal Times that he sceptical that Zanu-PF are prepared to make the radical changes necessary to improve the situation for Zimbabwe’s people.

“We still do not believe that the government is honest in its dealings with the United Nations. They are just desperate for [international economic] re-engagement with Zimbabwe but they have not displayed any real willingness to reform,” says Moyo. “The government does not need the special rapporteur to motivate reforms; it needs the political will to do things differently.”

Mnangagwa has been trying to restore ties with the United States and the European Union since he came to power in November 2017, and although his ‘open for business’ mantra was meant to attract foreign capital to the country, investors have largely stayed away. Meanwhile, the government is unable to borrow from international lenders due to an outstanding external debt of US$9 billion.

On Voule’s recommendation for the government to the drop charges against trade union leaders, Moyo says that the International Labour Conference had made a similar demand in June but that in response, unions have faced nothing but escalating violence and threats against their families. ‘The government has failed to protect its citizens and has become an accomplice to rogue elements that are freely tormenting those perceived to oppose the government policies,” says Moyo.

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Less than two months ago, Paul Singer let AT&T know all of the ways he thought it sucked: It sucked in the boardroom, where it really should have the CEO and chairman roles separated, and also a few Eliott Management representatives. It sucked in terms of strategy, and should both stop buying giant things, and un-buy several of the giant things it had already bought, like DirecTV, for instance. And, thanks in part to those things and other smaller areas of suckage, it sucked in the market, where it was trading for roughly half what it should be.

Zimbabwe’s government is banking on a platinum-mining boom to help revive its collapsing economy. The world’s biggest platinum companies say it isn’t going to happen.

Since Emmerson Mnangagwa took over as leader of the country following a coup in late 2017, platinum projects valued at more than $8 billion have been announced by Cypriot and Russian investors. Still, two decades of political and economic instability and a government with a track record of seizing privately owned assets makes many in the industry skeptical about the new ventures.

“The sort of things being thrown around are all smoke and mirrors,” said Neal Froneman, chief executive officer of Sibanye Gold Ltd., the world’s largest platinum producer, which part owns a mine in Zimbabwe. “It’s not easy to raise capital for all those projects and you have a huge amount of regulatory uncertainty.”

In addition to a history of changing ownership rules, miners are likely to be deterred by Zimbabwe’s failing currency regime that’s caused hyperinflation, chronic shortages of fuel and power and U.S. sanctions on government officials and companies. The southern African nation is facing the first contraction in gross domestic product since 2008.

While record prices for sister metal palladium are buoying the market, the longer-term outlook for platinum remains uncertain, making it difficult to justify expensive capital investments, said Nico Muller, CEO of Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. The new investors face “insurmountable hurdles,” he said.

Implats, which produces most of its platinum in South Africa, owns the biggest mine in Zimbabwe and has previously had concessions seized and given to other investors.

Still, Zimbabwe has the world’s third-biggest deposits of platinum-group metals after South Africa and Russia and the shallow depth of its deposits makes mining cheaper and easier than in neighboring South Africa, the site of the biggest deposits. The government has ambitious mining plans.

The country’s mines ministry earlier this month forecast platinum-group metals output at 2.79 million ounces in 2024, almost triple the 979,000 ounces currently produced by Implats, Sibanye and Anglo American Platinum Ltd.

Almost half that target production will come from a $4.2 billion mine being built by Cyprus’s Karo Mining Holdings Ltd. Karo is 26.8% owned by Tharisa Plc, a publicly traded South African platinum and chrome miner run by the Pouroulis family. Tharisa has the right to acquire the rest of the Zimbabwe project.

A second $4 billion project is being developed by Great Dyke Investments, a venture between Russia’s Vi Holding and Zimbabwean investors. Great Dyke has appointed African Export-Import Bank to raise $500 million to fund the first phase of a mine that will produce 290,000 ounces of platinum-group metals by 2023.

For more on Zimbabwe’s platinum plans click here

The project, which was until recently part owned by companies linked to the Zimbabwean military, expects to start construction on a processing plant in April, said Great Dyke CEO Alex Ivanov. The venture is also in negotiations with potential equity partners, he said.

The new investors haven’t raised concerns about Zimbabwe’s risk, said Mazai Moyo, secretary for the ministry of mines.

Still, to ensure a mining renaissance, the government will need to convince big producers to start spending, said Charles Laurie, head of country risk at Bath, England-based Verisk Maplecroft. That will require substantial revisions to the nation’s mining code, he said.

“If the Zimbabwe government is serious about attracting credible, well capitalized, A-list mining investors, it needs to do much more than give mining regulations a facelift,” Laurie said. “Investors want speed to capitalize on the very substantial opportunities, but they also need stability and clarity.”

For the moment, Implats and Sibanye remain to be convinced about Zimbabwe, with both diversifying their investments through acquisitions in North America. Sibanye bought Stillwater Mining Co. for $2.2 billion three years ago, while Implats earlier this month agreed to pay $758 million for North American Palladium Ltd., in its first move out of southern Africa.

“Maybe when the sanctions are lifted, and there is a real commitment from government in terms of rules of investing there, it might be a great place to do business,” Froneman said.

There’s no torture, there’s nothing like that, but under hypnosis if you make someone believe there’s something really scary going on, that’s just in their own mind and not reality. If you’re good enough and you’re able to get inside somebody’s noggin like the way that I can, I can make folks believe whatever I want them to believe.

I’m like the most strait-laced guy you could think of, but here I run this crazy haunted house. And people twist it around in their little minds. It really is a magic act, what I do. It’s a lot of smoke and mirrors.

— Russ McKamey, owner and operator of the McKamey Manor in Summertown, Tennessee, commenting on an online petition calling for the extreme haunted house to be shut down because “[i]t’s literally just a kidnapping and torture house” and “[s]ome people have had to seek professional psychiatric help and medical care for extensive injuries.” McKamey says people begin their tour of the house, which can last up to 10 hours, with the chance to earn $20,000 and lose $500 every time they fail an activity. In the 30 years McKamey has been running the haunted manor, no one has completed a tour. McKamey says he films each tour, and has been sued numerous times over what people thought happened to them, but didn’t actually occur.

In order to be selected as a participant, you must first go through an extreme screening process, which includes a physical exam, a background check, a phone screen, a drug test, the creation of a safe word, the viewing of a two-hour video, and the signing of a 40-page waiver. An older version of McKamey Manor’s insane, legally questionable waiver (which consistently uses the word “libel” for “liable”) has been leaked online. Flip to the next page to see it.

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Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

If the Supreme Court followed the basic rules of ethics applicable to every other court, Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh would have to recuse themselves from the Bostock, Altitude Express, and R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes cases — the ones which seek to reinterpret Title VII to allow for bigotry against the LGBTQ community. Alito and Kavanaugh took some sort of meeting and even posed for a picture with the leader of a virulent anti-LGBT group, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM). Here’s the photo:

It’s really bad enough that conservative justices are so willing to give public aid and comfort to right-wing groups like the Federalist Society. Brett Kavanaugh, who has been credibly accused of attempted rape, has promised to take revenge on his enemies, so you can’t really claim the justice’s partisan hackery is surprising. But this meeting with the NOM is is outrageous. NOM has filed an amicus brief with the Court in the Bostock/Altitude/Funeral Homes cases. The Court has heard arguments and the justices are ostensibly working on their opinions in those cases RIGHT NOW. Taking meeting and a picture with people who have a case and argument pending in front of you would be unacceptable for any other court in the land.

But the Supreme Court operates under no ethics rules. John Roberts occasionally makes noises about issuing some, but he hasn’t. And I suspect the reason is that any reasonable rules would proscribe the behavior of his colleagues like Kavanaugh, Alito, and Clarence Thomas. Thomas, along with his wife Ginni, spend so much time promoting right-wing causes and groups that nearly any code of “ethics” would force Thomas to recuse himself from half of the Court’s docket.

And so NOM gets to have its little photo op and meeting with Alito and Kavanaugh who are mulling over the future of Title VII right now. You don’t have to wonder what NOM might have wanted to talk about. Again, they have a BRIEF BEFORE THE COURT right now:

Because anti-discrimination laws necessarily infringe on individual liberty, on freedom of association, on freedom of contract, and even, as these cases demonstrate, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and privacy rights, the basic policy determination to expand such laws to new contexts and new classifications is a power our Constitution assigns to the Congress, not to unelected and largely unaccountable bureaucrats and not even to the courts.

For those playing along at home: NOM is not simply interested in “marriage” as its name suggests. No, they’re injecting themselves into a debate about LGBTQ discrimination in the workplace and, more than that, their brief is a screed against anti-discrimination laws, full stop.

If this doesn’t seem biased to you, ask yourself this question: Can I get a meeting and a photo op with Sam Alito? Can Lambda Legal? I wouldn’t want to be in the same room with Kavanaugh because I’d be afraid he’d scream at me and shove his penis in my face, but I’d love to take five minutes to talk to Alito about why he shouldn’t be a homophobic prick and instead honor the precedent set in Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins. I might not influence him, but I’d like the access to try.

This photo is direct evidence that Alito and Kavanaugh are not impartial. I could find you 100 photos of Clarence Thomas doing the same thing. It is a flagrant violation of judicial norms and ethics. It only happens because Republicans no longer care about norms or ethics. They have the votes to win and they are winning and the Chief Justice is happy to let them win.

The Supreme Court is a broken institution and it won’t be fixed until enough people understand how broken it is and are willing to act.

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Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and a contributor at The Nation. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

Five Good Habits Attorneys Should Start Building

There’s no shortage of bad habits out there, and attorneys aren’t immune from them. Work-life balance issues come to mind, for example. But the hours you work and the demands placed upon you aren’t always within your control. Some things just take a lot of effort, and being a competent, competitive lawyer is one of them.

But among the things you can control is the ability to develop a few good habits. This article details:

• How to make use of existing legal knowledge
• Ways to keep up with constantly changing law
• How technology can up your legal research skills, and more!

Download the article now so you can start to make room for changes in your work process. Your future self just might thank you.

By submitting your email, you are opting in to receive Above the Law  and Thomson Reuters Sponsored Messages.

Judge Leon is all out of treats this Halloween. At 2:00 this afternoon, lawyers for the president and the House of Representatives are due in Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s courtroom to argue whether White House Counsel Don McGahn can be compelled to testify to the Judiciary Committee. At 3 p.m., these same parties were scheduled to appear before Judge Leon for an emergency status conference in former Deputy National Security Advisor Charles Kupperman’s suit for a declaratory judgment as to whether he has to testify to House impeachment investigators about Trump’s infamous phone call with the Ukrainian president, a call which Kupperman listened to in real time.

Would Judge Leon agree to postpone the hearing so everyone could race to the train and get home to their little Power Rangers and Princesses before the witching hour?

Hahahaha, NOPE. Noting that there are so, so many lawyers entered on this case, Judge Leon agreed to move the hearing … to 4 p.m. today (click to enlarge):

BOOOOOOOO. And sorry, kids.

Unlike the McGahn case, this suit was brought by Kupperman himself, who asks for judicial advice as to whether he must comply with a congressional subpoena, or may refuse to answer under the doctrine of “absolute immunity from compelled congressional testimony” that White House Counsel Pat Cipollone conjured up out of whole cloth.

At first blush, Judge Leon might seem a lucky draw for the government. He’s a a dyed-in-the-wool conservative who struck down D.C.’s handgun carry permit, upheld the seizure of a 100-acre butterfly preserve in Texas for Trump’s border wall, and allowed the Trump administration to greenlight the sale of “junk” catastrophic healthcare plans. On the other hand, Judge Leon served as House counsel in multiple, high-profile oversight investigations, including Iran-Contra, October Surprise, and Whitewater, and he teaches a course at Georgetown Law on Congressional Investigations. (Womp womp.)

Even if His Honor decides that he’s in the business of issuing opinion letters — and that’s a big if, since the House hasn’t sued to enforce its subpoena yet — he may decide that the whole issue is moot after the House votes to formalize its impeachment process today. Pat Cipollone’s primal scream of immunity was noticeably short on legal reasoning, save for the assertion that there’s no “real” impeachment without a vote in the full House, a box which should be checked within a few hours. Absent that argument, which forms the basis of Kupperman’s suit, there really isn’t much there there.

Let’s be honest, there never was any there there in the first place, as Judge Beryl Howell, also of the U.S. District Court of D.C., ruled last week in her order to the DOJ to release the Mueller grand jury materials to House impeachment investigators, saying, “[N]o governing law requires this test — not the Constitution, not House Rules, and not Rule 6(e), and so imposing this test would be an impermissible intrusion on the House’s constitutional authority[.]”

Judge Leon’s decision may have wide-ranging consequences for witnesses subpoenaed by Congress. Most immediately, Kupperman’s lawyer, Charles Cooper, also represents former National Security Advisor John Bolton. Bolton has said he won’t testify without a subpoena, but hasn’t yet ruled out showing up to collect one of those “friendly” subpoenas Adam Schiff is handing out like mini-Twix bars to witnesses who got a nastygram from the White House Counsel’s Office threatening certain annihilation if they talked.

So, watch this space to see if the judge tips his hand today. You know John Bolton will be paying close attention.

And have fun out there with your kids. Tonight, the WITCH HUNT is REAL.

Complaint, KUPPERMAN v. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE U.S.A. et al, No. 1:19-cv-03224 (D.D.C. Oct 25, 2019) [via Court Listener]

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Elizabeth Dye lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics.

* Johnny Depp has settled a lawsuit against his former attorney who allegedly bilked him out of millions. In other words: Jack Sparrow has bested another pirate. [Bloomberg]

* Hillary Clinton told an audience at Georgetown Law yesterday that she played a pivotal role in the selection of RBG to the Supreme Court. Maybe she’ll play herself in the next RBG movie. [CNN]

* Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. has been charged with unlawfully touching a third woman. [Yahoo Entertainment]

* Attorneys handling the Equifax data breach class action are asking for $77M in fees. I’m still waiting for the money AOC promised me! [Daily Report]

* The Second Circuit has upheld the conviction of Martin Shkreli’s lawyer for his role in helping Shkreli defraud investors. [Reuters]

* R. Kelly skipped a hearing relating to his federal charges because he allegedly had an infected toenail. This excuse is even worse than saying he had to wash his hair. [People]

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Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothmanlawyer.com.

It has also been difficult to find out the terms of agreements the government has concluded with foreign banks and other entities, for example the “mega deals” which ‒ so it is claimed ‒ will flood the country with foreign investment.  These agreements are likely to have a greater impact on the economy than international treaties.

In an attempt to alleviate at least the first of these difficulties the government has published an International Treaties Bill, which can be accessed on the Veritas website [link].  Before discussing the provisions of the Bill we shall outline the constitutional background against which it has been drafted.

The Constitutional Background to the Bill

Section 327 of the Constitution sets out the procedure to be followed for international treaties to become binding on Zimbabwe ‒ and “international treaties” in this context covers conventions, protocols, charters and other agreements between States and international organisations such as the IMF.

Section 327 may be summarised as follows:

• An international treaty which has been signed by or on behalf of the President does not bind Zimbabwe until it has been approved by Parliament (i.e. by both the Senate and the National Assembly) [section 327(2)(a)].  Once that approval has been obtained, the procedure is for the Government to send documents called “instruments of ratification” to the other State that is a party to the treaty or, if the treaty so requires, to a body such as the United Nations.  Instruments of ratification are a formal statement that the treaty has become binding on Zimbabwe in international law.
• Even if a treaty has been approved by Parliament and has become binding in international law, it will not affect Zimbabwe’s internal or domestic law until it has been incorporated into the law by an Act of Parliament [section 327(2)(b)].
• An agreement other than a treaty which is entered by the government with a foreign organisation and which imposes “fiscal obligations” on Zimbabwe is not binding until it has been approved by Parliament [section 327(3)].  Fiscal obligations are financial obligations, so parliamentary approval is required for any agreement with a foreign bank or foreign trading entity if the agreement requires the government to pay out any money, either immediately or at a future date.  Hence loan agreements must be approved by Parliament, and so too must agreements by which the government guarantees debts of parastatals because if the parastatals default on their obligations the government will have to pay the creditors in terms of its guarantees.

That is the background against which the International Treaties Bill must be assessed.

The Contents of the Bill

The Bill is a short one of 12 clauses and its provisions are explained in an unusually helpful memorandum.  What follows is an outline of Bill’s major provisions:

Scope of the Bill

According to clause 3, the Bill will not affect double-taxation agreements, bilateral trade agreements and other treaties which are negotiated and published under statutes such as the Income Tax Act and the Customs and Excise Act, which contain adequate provisions for publishing and enforcing the agreements and treaties.

Archive of treaties

Under clause 4 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade will be the custodian and national depositary of all treaties to which Zimbabwe is currently a party.  The treaties will all be available for inspection by interested persons on payment of a fee prescribed in regulations or fixed by the Minister.

Procedure for Ratification of treaties

Under clauses 5 and 6 international treaties that have been negotiated on behalf of the government will have to be sent for examination to PAAC, a four-person committee of civil servants chaired by a representative of the Attorney-General.  After examining draft treaties PAAC will recommend whether they should be renegotiated or altered, or approved by “the President in Cabinet” [i.e. by the Cabinet presided over by the President].  If PAAC recommends approval, the treaties will be submitted to the Cabinet and, if Cabinet approves them, they will be sent to Parliament for approval.  Finally, if Parliament approves the treaties the Ministry that negotiated them will be responsible for sending instruments of ratification to the other party to the treaty or to the appropriate depositary, as the case may be.

Although the Bill does not say so, much the same procedure will presumably be followed when, as sometimes happens, the President himself signs a treaty:  the treaty as signed will be examined by PAAC before being submitted to Parliament for approval.

Publication of treaties

Under clause 7 of the Bill, PAAC may recommend that a treaty be published in the Gazette for public information before it has been approved by Parliament;  it is not clear if the President must accede to such a request or if he has a discretion in the matter.  The lack of clarity persists later in the clause where it states that every international treaty that has been approved by Parliament must be published in the Gazette, except any treaty that “falls within the scope of the prerogative powers of the President in the sphere of international relations”.  The Constitution does not appear to give the President “prerogative powers” in relation to treaties or anything else, so where does he get them?  Be that as it may, all treaties have to be approved by Parliament so they must be published at least to the extent of being distributed to parliamentarians, whether or not they are gazetted later.

Domestication of treaties

Under clause 7 of the Bill, when a treaty is published in the Gazette after being approved by Parliament, PAAC must publish a notice indicating whether the treaty is self-executing, i.e. that it is enforceable in Zimbabwe without the need for legislation, or whether it needs to be domesticated, i.e. incorporated into the law of Zimbabwe by legislation.  If the latter, the Ministry responsible for negotiating the treaty will have to send the treaty to the Attorney-General’s Office for the necessary legislation to be prepared [clause 7(6)].

This is a welcome provision because it will help to ensure that the government gives effect to treaties it has signed.  All too often in the past, the government has ratified treaties and then, as with the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women [CEDAW], failed to incorporate their provisions into our law.

Unfortunately, however the Bill does not lay down time-limits for treaties to be domesticated.  It would be better if Parliament were given the power to specify time-limits for the domestication of particular treaties, and were able to hold the Government to them.

Treaties lists

Under clause 8 of the Bill PAAC will be responsible for maintaining treaties lists and will be able to publish the lists in the Gazette.

Conclusion

This is a welcome Bill which, provided it is complied with, should bring clarity and order to the process of negotiating and ratifying international treaties.  We have to add those words “provided it is complied with” because, as the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament has discovered, government Ministries have not been punctilious in complying with existing constitutional provisions which require them to bring treaties to Parliament for approval.  But let’s be hopeful:  with new legislation, the government may turn over a new leaf ‒ at least in regard to treaties.

Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for information supplied.

Post published in: Featured

The announcement was made during a handover ceremony in Mount Darwin. The new
contribution further builds on previous contributions provided earlier this year, including
US$500,000 to support food assistance and community resilience-building activities, as well as
US$350,000 towards emergency relief efforts following Cyclone Idai. In total, Japan has
generously supported WFP in Zimbabwe with US$3.5 million in 2019.

“The timely funding from Japan this year received in times of great need, have been crucial to
WFP’s operational capacity amidst two climate-related disasters,” said Eddie Rowe, WFP Country
Representative and Director. “This new contribution will ensure that the progress we have made is
not lost, but rather that these communities continue to build their resilience for the future.”
Projects will be implemented in partnership with WFP, World Vision Zimbabwe and PLAN
International, including Food Assistance for Assets, support to the government’s Home Grown
School Feeding programme, and nutrition in maternity waiting homes.

“Japan will continue to provide support so that the basic needs of the rural communities are met,
especially those of women and children,” said H.E. Mr Toshiyuki Iwado, Ambassador of Japan to
Zimbabwe. He encouraged the Government of Zimbabwe to further tackle the issue of food
insecurity, as Japan and other donor countries could only support the efforts of Zimbabweans. He
also mentioned that the project would contribute to Japan’s goal of promoting gender equality,
by providing nutritional support to women and children.

Japan’s support has enabled the construction of weir dams and nutrition gardens, mainly in
Manicaland, Matabeleland North and South, and Mashonaland Central provinces, as well as
providing much-needed nutritional support to expectant mothers at maternity waiting homes
across the country.

The United Nations World Food Programme – saving lives in emergencies and changing lives for millions through sustainable development. WFP works in more than 80 countries around the world, feeding people caught in conflict and disasters, and laying the foundations for a better future.

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