HARARE - The Zimbabwe government has in effect stamped out the country's independent judiciary by forcing the early retirement of its chief justice, Anthony Gubbay, who had been fighting an order to resign.
The government rescinded its sacking order under an agreement signed by Justice Gubbay and the Justice Minister,Patrick Chinamasa, after the judge received a personal death threat from a ruling party militant.
But the 69-year old judge is to take immediate leave pending his departure on 1 July, in line with the accord that averted a constitutional crisis and ended a week-long stand-off.
The government is appointing President Robert Mugabe's long-time ally, Godfrey Chidyausiku, as acting chief justice, a decision many view as the final nail in the coffin of the Zimbabwean judiciary.
The crisis unfolding in the life of Justice Gubbay, a softspoken jurist who has been Zimbabwe's chief justice since 1990, could not have come at a worse time. His wife is seriously ill with Alzheimer's disease. B
efore the latest decision to reverse his firing, Mr Mugabe had issued a seven-day ultimatum to vacate his official residence and find alternative accommodation.
"Such a measure could only be described as being completely inhuman,"Justice Gubbay's lawyer, Mordecai Mahlangu, said.
Mr Mugabe's government sent in one of its most militant supporters, Joseph Chinotimba, to cow Justice Gubbay before reversing its decision on his fate.
Mr Chinotimba harassed Justice Gubbay for about 50 minutes and later told reporters that he had asked the chief justice to go or face death. "He [Gubbay] is a British imperialist agent and he must go," he said.
Mr Chinotimba, who in January led a gang of war veterans into the Supreme Court to protest against white judges while the court was in session, said the issue of Justice Gubbay's removal was not negotiable.
Justice Gubbay had reported for duty yesterday for the second day in defiance of a government order terminating his term as chief justice with effect from midnight on Wednesday.
