JUSTICE IN ZIMBABWE 131 ____________________________________________________________________ APPENDIX 3: EDITORIAL IN THE FINANCIAL GAZETTE 25 JULY 2002, ENTITLED “WHEELS COME OFF” “The wheels of the nation ship of Zimbabwe have clearly come off. Nothing dramatises this fact more than the government’s contemptuous dismissal – in fact outright rejection – of the lawful jailing of Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa. As we write this comment, Chinamasa had still to start serving his … sentence of three months for contempt of court … When a country descends to levels where Cabinet ministers or anyone at all decides which court ruling to obey or disobey and police are instructed to act accordingly, then all in the land are in serious trouble, their rights at the sole mercy of the all-supreme state. In simple terms, this means that the law of the jungle has taken over. But how will this administration respond when, as is bound to happen, ordinary Zimbabweans start following Chinamasa’s example and refuse to obey lawful court rulings? Chinamasa’s actions – of publicly ridiculing his arrest warrant, of threatening the presiding judge with a misconduct probe and now of not complying with his jail terms – are not only a travesty of justice but a mockery of the rule of law. Tragically, his actions have been magnified by the fact that he is the minister in charge of the justice delivery system in the country and, as a legal practitioner, he should have known better than most. But what do Zimbabweans get? A blistering attack on the court ruling by Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, who also cast aspersions on the integrity of High Court judge Justice Fergus Blackie for his judgment. Moyo branded the ruling “shocking, outrageous and sinister” and accused Justice Blackie of staging kangaroo courts and of being a crude white racist. Then, in a telling statement bound to hound the government over claims that it respects and observes the rule of law, a mere civil servant in the name of David Mangota – Chinamasa’s permanent secretary – proclaimed the judgment as being null and void! In Mangota’s words, as reported by the Herald: “The sentence imposed on the minister therefore has no force or effect.” No wonder why Chinamasa, reportedly out of the country at the time of the ruling but now back in the country, has not even started serving his sentence and may indeed not do so. This is because we have civil servants who have virtually taken over the role of the