Zimbabwe's £ 118,000 spending on judges' wigs sparked fury | Global development

Lawyers in Zimbabwe have criticized the government's decision to spend thousands of pounds on wigs made in England for local judges, saying the tradition evokes a colonial past that should not exist in modern Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe's Judicial Services Commission has ordered 64 wigs from Stanley Ley Legal Outfitters in London for £ 118,400.

Zimbabweans have reacted angrily on social media, questioning the wisdom of government spending at a time when audiences are cluttered and poorly equipped, the national economy is collapsing and, according to the World Food Program, 63% of the population lives in poverty line.

Dumisani Nkomo, managing director of the Bulawayo-based Habakkuk Trust, echoed these sentiments: "These are misplaced priorities. We need to focus on the problems of bread and butter and avoid unnecessary luxury spending. "

After the rains and bad weather that destroyed crops, nearly 5.3 million people in Zimbabwe are facing food insecurity. in 2017, the country was ranked 108th out of the 119 included in the world hunger index. The government had already committed to cutting spending to cope with rising food prices related to the introduction of a new currency in February.

Lawyers in Harare said the government was wasting money to keep alive a colonial tradition.

Beatrice Mtetwa, the capital's leading lawyer, said Zimbabwe's British colonial past remained anchored in its judicial system.

"What surprises me in Zimbabwe is that we say everything against colonialism but that we live more colonially than the colonizers themselves," said Mtetwa. "A normal litigant would be intimidated to find himself in a courtroom full of ridiculously dressed judges. Why can not we dress decently? If we want to wear wigs, why can not we make them in our own way? These wigs were meant for white judges – we look ridiculous. "

Luke Malaba, the Chief Justice of Zimbabwe, reportedly insisted on the use of wigs during the proceedings.

Some of the horsehair wigs were delivered last week.

Another prominent lawyer, Alec Muchadehama, said law practitioners should abandon the tradition and make the courts more accessible to the general public.

"I think we should move away from this culture so that judges look like ordinary people and the courts are human. We should just believe that if a judge wears a suit, it does not make him less judge, "said Muchadehama.

The use of wigs has been abandoned in South Africa, Kenya and several other Commonwealth countries.

In Britain, judges stopped wearing wigs in civil and family trials, ending a centuries-old tradition.

"In my opinion, it's a little useless. From an ideological point of view, these wigs bring us back to the colonial era. They make our courses inaccessible by the ordinary man. If the Judicial Service Commission were spending this money on the rehabilitation of dilapidated courts, that would make a lot of sense, "said Doug Coltart, a human rights lawyer.