https://allafrica.com/stories/202105170157.html
In retaliation to not getting what he wants the president of Zimbabwe has stated that he thinks the judicial high court has been taken over by foreign forces. what caused the president to do this is when the high court denied his action in trying to restate a retiring chief justice. the judges ruled that the country’s top judge ceased to be a judge because the constitutional amendments that gave President Mnangagwa the power to appoint senior judges did not apply to incumbents. One of the judges stated that this is just another example of overreach from the president. The president then replied that he does not recognise the high court anymore. he also stated that he is going to “file an appeal against this baseless and meaningless decision of the High Court.” The president also goes on to slander the high courts more. the current president took the presidency during a military coup in 2017 and has been accused of trying to make the country a one party system. by arresting anyone that tried to run for president or anyone that opsoies the president.
For me this shows that there is a growing disconnect between the president and the high court. what the president is saying to the high court does not make the situation any better if anything he is only hurting himself because I feel the high court will now push even harder to get new candidates to run against the president. with all of the controversy surrounding looming in the background i have to bring in the fact that the people might not want their current president to be president anymore. he gained power through a military coup, people have been afraid to speak out or run against him because the president has arrested anyone that has tried. For lasting effect on the region we very well could be seeing a new leader or leadership step up in Zimbabwe and it might happen with the consent of the current president.
If you look at this on an individual level you can see that all of this stems from the president’s actions to try and consolidate power. The president of Zimbabwe is making it hard for people on the outside looking in to not point the finger at him and say that he is the one that is causing all of this ster. However the high court judges are also pushing back and standing their ground against the president to maintain and uphold what their constitutions says.