Black lawyers in Zimbabwe said on Monday that they would oppose any form of political patronage from the ruling ZANU-PF party following its recommendations that government should withdraw business from white-owned law firms.
‘The Daily News’ reported on Tuesday that Sternford Moyo, president of the Law Society of Zimbabwe, said that while efforts to empower black lawyers were honourable, the process should not be used as a way of buying political support using public assets. “Once that happens,” Moyo said, “it becomes a form of corruption. The goal of indigenisation is a noble one. But it can very easily be turned into a strong network of political patronage and it is unacceptable for politicians to use public assets to buy political support.”
The lawyers were commenting on the ongoing debate in the legal profession on whether to accept recommendations made by a ZANU-PF committee that government immediately withdraw business from white-owned firms and contract black-owned firms.
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