An Introduction to Zimbabwean Law

Acknowledgements

This book is a compilation of my lecture notes for ‘Introduction to Law’, a course which is one of the main foundations of the LLB degree of the Faculty of Law, University of Zimbabwe. I have taught this first-year course to students in the Faculty of Law for the last fourteen years. I have also been a consultant for the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) since 1995, where I have been involved in a paralegal training programme for trade unionists who are members of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). The ZCTU paralegal programme has a subject called ‘Introduction to Law’ and is deliberately based on the framework used for first-year law students at the University of Zimbabwe. There are those who deserve special mention for making the publication of this book a success. I would like to register my indebtedness to the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung for funding the publication of this book. The gestation period for this book was somewhat lengthy. I very much appreciate the open hand shown by successive FES Directors: Rudolf Traub-Merz, Felix Schmidt, Sven Schwersensky, Gerd Botterweck and Kathrin Meissner . Local FES staff Florence and Tendayi were equally supportive. All my law students have been a tremendous source of inspiration. To them I owe the insights that have enabled me to determine what to include in this book. My colleagues in the Faculty of Law have also assisted me in many ways: Ellen Sithole and Joel Zowa, with materials on the procedural law aspects of the book; Geoff Feltoe and Emmanuel Magade, by encouraging me to complete this book; and Munyaradzi Gwisai, by pretesting some of the ideas in the book. Acknowledgements xiii Outside the academic world, I have a solid support group that deserves my appreciation. With the formation of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) in 1997, and my active involvement in it, my academic work underwent a metamorphosis of some sort. Activism began to take up a greater portion of my time. This fusion between activism and academic work had interesting results. For example, just as the police found it easier to preempt NCA protests by arresting me outside university lecture rooms, many students came to find it more convenient to submit their assignments and draft dissertations at the NCA Head Office at Bumbiro House. Thus, both the University and the NCA felt the effects of the two worlds that I kept together. In this respect, I would like to thank both activists and the Secretariat of the NCA for supporting my academic work. At the technical level, Abgail Mawonya, our secretary at the University ’s Public Law Department, played a very pivotal role. She typed up lecture notes, kept them for the next group of students and when the time came for converting lecture notes into chapters of this book, she provided excellent assistance. She was assisted by Fungai Chinyani (FES), who also typed and kept a significant portion of my lecture materials. Fungai Mufudzi (NCA) also found herself involved in typing and keeping some of the materials that were developed while I was at the NCA. I thank Weaver Press, its director, Irene Staunton, and her team for an excellent editing job and, above all, for their patience – they waited three years for the final version of the manuscript! The last and most important appreciation is reserved for my family. My wife, Annamercy, and my own children (Tendai, Nyasha and Kuziyakwashe ) have that unique contribution of being an unshakeable base from which all becomes possible. I give every word of appreciation to my parents and my mother-in-law, my brothers and brothers-in-law, sisters and sisters-in-law, Tadiwanashe, and all our family in its extended sense, for their unconditional support. Finally, I must mention mainini Bongi, for all the work she did for this book to be published. She exceeded the bounds of duty and made this her personal project. xiv ...