No fast-track replacement for late Judge Mutema

Justice Rita Makarau has ruled out on a quick replacement of the late Bulawayo High Court judge, Justice Andrew Mutema.

Mutema collapsed and died a city hospital in August.

He became the first national hero this year.

Makarau said it was not an automatic matter for the Judicial Services Commission to immediately declare the post vacant.

"It will not just be an automatic process, that since there has been a death then the post be declared vacant," she said.

She said in the aftermath of Mutema's death, the Commission would now sit and decide whether they wanted to declare a vacancy.

"The two issues are not entirely related; we are still awaiting advice from the appointing authority on the names that were forwarded for the Supreme Court appointments," she said.

Under the new Constitution, the appointment of judges has changed in order to make the process more transparent.

Mutema joined the judiciary services in 1986 as an assistant magistrate and was later appointed magistrate the following year.

He later rose through the ranks and was promoted to regional magistrate in 1997.

In 2004 he was appointed senior president of the Administrative Court.

"In 2007 he was upgraded to senior president of the Labor Court and when he died he had been promoted to senior judge at the Bulawayo High Court," Chikwanha said.

In March, Mutema was appointed to represent Zimbabwe as a principal judge in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern.