D.Tinashe Hofisi: Reflections

The US presidential election takes place on 3 November 2020. One week from today, Donald Trump could be re-elected or, as suggested by the polling data, Joe Biden will become the 46th President of the United States. This post explores the implications of a potential Biden/Harris victory on relations between Washington D.C. and Harare.   Currently, there is no scope for government to government assistance between the US and Zimbabwe, save in the humanitarian sector. Thus, cooperation remains  alleviatory. The US$318 million provided by the US in 2019 was in such fields as health, humanitarian and food assistance as well as disaster relief. This dwarfs the US$500 million provided annually to neighbouring Zambia for instance. Further, it does little to account for the absence of non-humanitarian government to government assistance and non-eligibility for assistance through such avenues as the African Growth and Opportunity Act and the Millennium Challenge Corporation. Thi...

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) held interviews for Constitutional Court judges on 28 September 2020. This will enable formal separation of the Supreme Court from the Constitutional Court. The 2013 Constitution provided a seven-year transition in which Supreme Court judges doubled as the Constitutional Court panel. In spite of the arduous and at times rigorous interview process, it is highly likely that the five acting judges of the Constitutional Court will simply be made substantive. This has significant implications on the court's jurisprudence.   The interview process was profoundly technical and challenged candidates on their knowledge of procedural requirements, substantive law and institutional design. It was clear that the judges were, without exception, more comfortable in the procedural realm as opposed to the substantive questions of legal rationale. They could more easily state the correct procedure, but struggled to account for why it exists. In other words,...