Moses Chinhengo
Moses H. Chinhengo is a former Zimbabwean judge. He has also worked as a judge in Botswana, Lesotho, and Namiba. He was on the Chidyausiku Commission in 1999.
Personal Details
Born: Moses Chinhengo Hungwe, 29 October 1955, Masvingo Province.
School / Education
Tertiary: Bachelor of Law Hons degree University of Zimbabwe,
During his studies he worked for Munich Re in Johannesburg and was politically active during the Second Chimurenga.
Service / Career
At Independence, 1980, he was appointed Undersecretary at the Ministry of Justice and Foreign Affairs, a post he held until 1982.
In 1983, he was appointed head of the Department of Parliamentary Affairs and also to the promoted Justice Department. Prior to becoming a judge he worked as a practising lawyer for several years. From 1983 to 1989 he held the position of Chief Legal Officer at the Ministry of Justice in Zimbabwe.
In 1987, he led the Zimbabwe Delegation to a Conference on the Law of the Sea and the Preparatory Conference for the Sea-bed.
In 1989 he moved into the private sector and initially worked for an investment company and then an insurance company.
On 22 March 1996, he was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe, a post he held until his resignation in 2004 due to what he perceived as executive interference in the judiciary.
In 1999, he was one of a group of five lawyers (the Chidyausiku Commission) who drew up a new constitution which was rejected in a referendum in 2000. In 2002 he was unsuccessfully nominated as Zimbabwe’s candidate for the post of Judge of the International Tribunal.
In 2004, he was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of Botswana. .
At the end of March 2023, Zimbabwean judges Rita Makarau and Moses Chinhengo were appointed to serve on the Namibian Supreme Court and High Court, respectively.
Rita Makarau, formerly Judge-President of the (Zimbabwe) High Court and chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, was appointed acting Judge of the (Namibia) Supreme Court from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.
Moses Chinhengo served as an acting judge of Namibia’s Supreme Court in 2021. He was also a retired justice of the High Court of Botswana and Zimbabwe, and was serving as an acting Justice for Court of Appeal in Lesotho. He was appointed as an acting Judge of the High Court for the period 18 September 2023 to 31 December 2023.
