Human rights lawyers approach High Court seeking order to stop the introduction of bond notes

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZHLR), through their director, Rosemary Hanzi, have approached the High Court seeking an order to stop the introduction of bond notes.

In an urgent application they requested the court to set aside Statutory Instrument 133 of 2016 saying it was unconstitutional and should be declared null and void. President Robert Mugabe is listed as the first respondent, Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa, the second, and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) the third. The lawyers said Mugabe’s use of Presidential Powers (Temporal Measures Act) was unconstitutional.

Former Vice-President and opposition ZimPF leader, Joice Mujuru had filed a similar challenge in the Constitutional Court. Mujuru, however, lost the case, as the ConCourt ruled that she had prematurely challenged the introduction of the currency, as the State had not, by then, promulgated laws to govern its introduction.