By Benjamin Wickham
WINDHOEK, March 31 — Namibia’s President has appointed six acting judges to the country’s High Court and Supreme Court, including Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court judge, Justice Rita Makarau, and ombudsman Justice Moses Chinhengo. Justice Chinhengo, who is currently serving as an acting judge of the Court of Appeal in Lesotho, will serve as an acting judge of the High Court from September 18 to December 31, 2023. He has previously worked in Namibia and at the Botswana Supreme Court. Justice Makarau, a former Judge President in Zimbabwe, will serve as an acting judge of the Namibian Supreme Court for one year from April 1, 2023.
The other four judges appointed are Lady Justice Johanna Sophia (Hannelie) Prinsloo, Lady Justice Esi Malaika Schimming-Chase, Justice Collins Parker, and Advocate Ramon Maasdorp. Justice Chinhengo was one of the three legislative draftspersons who drafted the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe. In his capacity as a Commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), he has served on ICJ fact-finding missions to Zambia, South Sudan, Kenya, and Lesotho.
In 2022, Justice Chinhengo and other members of the Africa Judges and Jurists Forum formed part of a high-level panel that was set up to hear the Kenyan presidential election petition. As an ombudsman, his job involves receiving and dealing with grievances from AMH newspapers’ readers and the general public about issues published on the media house’s platforms. The AMH is the first media house in Zimbabwe to introduce this form of self-regulation, which is set to benefit the reading public. The AMH publishes NewsDay, The Standard, Zimbabwe Independent, and Southern Eye and owns online tele-radio broadcaster Heart & Soul TV.
Overall, the appointments will help ensure that Namibia’s High Court and Supreme Court continue to function effectively and efficiently. The addition of experienced and well-respected judges like Justice Chinhengo and Justice Makarau will help ensure that justice is served in Namibia and that the country’s legal system continues to be a model for the rest of the continent. – Namibia Daily News
