Mureriwa Isiah: Case Note of Mildred Mapingure -V- Minister of Home Affairs and 2 Other Ministers.

ISIAH MURERIWA: A CASE NOTE ON THE JUDGMENT IN MILDRED MAPINGURE-v- MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS & 2 OTHER MINISTERS.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
The High Court of Zimbabwe, sitting at Harare on the 12th of December 2012 handed down judgement number HH 452/12 in the case of Mildred Mapingure -v- Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Health and Child Welfare and Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. In pronouncing the written judgement the court simply stated that the applicant‘s application for default judgement is dismissed with no order as to costs. I happened on that morning to have been seated next to the applicant, who not only seemed to be shocked by the outcome, but clearly disappointed. In her word she repeated the pronouncement of the court   and I could sense her hurt feelings and disappointment, yet again, with our justice system. I could imagine her re-living the tragedy that, in the first place, had brought her into the court that morning.
On the first sentence, under THE BACKGROUND, Bere J, in his written judgement expressed himself in the following brief words:-
‘’ This case is no doubt a tragedy”
What Bere J probably referred to as a tragedy are the undisputed facts of the case. I reach this conclusion by reason of the fact that immediately after he referred to the case as a tragedy, he went straight on to give his own narrative account of the undisputed facts of the case. In this brief note, and borrowing from the Honourable Judge’s words I shall deliberately repeat the concept of a tragedy and this phrase shall inform the main theme of my study herein.
One could argue though that what is tragic is not just the facts of this case but the reality of thousands of silent women out there in our jurisdiction who unfortunately and un-remedily find themselves in the position similar to the applicant in this matter. It is also a possible interpretation that what is tragic is the circumstances under which Mildred Mapingure’s daughter, Vimbainashe...