One of the poorest countries in the world has spent $ 150,000 in wigs for judges

The Zimbabwean government's decision to spend thousands of dollars on wigs made in England for its judges sparked a wave of criticism from local lawyers, who argue that the tradition of wearing wigs evokes a colonial past that should not exist in the modern world. Zimbabwe, insured The Guardian.

The Zimbabwe Judicial Services Commission has placed an order for 64 wigs at Stanley Law Legal Outfitters, a London-based courtwear store, priced at £ 118,400, or around $ 155,000. That is, 1850 pounds sterling was paid per wig, a deal compared to the nearly 2,500 pounds that cost the most expensive wig sold by Stanley Ley, but a little more expensive than the other models offered for sale, which start at 460 pounds.

This purchase provoked the lives of Zimbabwean citizens in a country where over 85% of people live on less than two dollars a day and nearly 60% on less than a dollar a day. While the audience rooms are overcrowded and poorly equipped, with an economy still on the brink and 63% of the population living in poverty according to the World Food Program, many in social networks have expressed their indignation challenging the purchase as superfluous.

Dumisani Nkomo, executive director of Habakkuk Trust, a civil rights organization based in Bulawayo, said the government's priorities were "false": "We need to focus on how to earn bread and avoid to spend unnecessary luxuries ".

With crops destroyed by bad weather, nearly 5.3 million people in Zimbabwe are facing food insecurity.

Lawyers in Harare, the capital, said the government was wasting money to keep alive a colonial tradition. "It is surprising in Zimbabwe that we are saying everything against colonialism, but at the same time we are living in a more colonial way than the colonizers themselves," said Beatrice Mtetwa, a prominent Zimbabwean lawyer.

"A normal litigant would be intimidated by entering a courtroom filled with ridiculously dressed judges, why not dress appropriately? If we want to wear wigs, why can not we do them?" path?" These wigs were made for white judges, we look ridiculous, "said the woman.

Some of the horsehair wigs were delivered last week.

Luke Malaba, chairman of Zimbabwe's court, insisted on the use of wigs during hearings. However, the use of wigs is a practice that has been abandoned in South Africa, Kenya and several other Commonwealth countries. In Britain, judges have stopped wearing wigs in civil and family cases, ending a centuries-old tradition.

"In my opinion, it is a little useless.If an ideological point of view, these wigs date back to the colonial era.Our courts are rendered inaccessible by the common man.If the Judicial Service Commission was devoting this money to the rehabilitation of the ruined courts, that would make a lot of sense, "said Doug Coltart, a human rights lawyer.