CONDOLENCE messages continue to pour in following the shattering demise of international icon former South African President Nelson Mandela. The world awaits his burial next Sunday. Njabulo Ncube Deputy Editor
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has posthumously awarded the revered statesman the ZLHR Human Rights lawyer of the year award.
The award was given to Tata Mandela on Friday evening at the ZLHR human rights lecture and dinner held in Harare, exactly a day after he succumbed to pneumonia after battling lung infections for the past six months.
In a statement yesterday, the ZLHR said this year’s award winner espouses the very best that the legal profession could do to uplift society and contribute to easing the suffering and oppression particularly of the vulnerable and marginalised in society.
“This great person has been an inspiration for human rights lawyers throughout Zimbabwe and the wider African region, and reminds us there are still giants within our society who are willing to fight for precious values and further defend and extend our rights and freedoms – not for personal gain but in public service and because they believe in a free and fair society,” part of the ZHLR statement reads.
It described the late Mandela as a humble man who used his professional legal skills for the betterment of humanity; who sacrificed his legal career and family for the national good; who was persecuted by the authorities under a repressive system, but who used his incarceration to break through prison walls and inspire our generation and those to follow.
“We are not global powers. We do not bestow Nobel Peace prizes and State accolades. But in our own small way, we take this opportunity to salute a fellow lawyer, to thank him for his life of public service and to show that there are many who have taken heed of his example and action.
The award will be forwarded to his foundation, and ZLHR will seek to establish, together with his representatives, an annual scholarship in Zimbabwe for children who excel in academic studies, but who may not have yet had the opportunity to be inspired and assisted to possibly become the next icon in the struggle for a better society.
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We thank Madiba for his life’s work, and we will continue to play our role in fostering a culture of human rights and dignity for all in our society,” the ZLHR added.
Other lawyers that had been nominated for the award included David Tandiri , the sole partner at Tandiri Law Chambers in Mutare), Kossam Ncube, of Kossam Ncube&Partners, Passmore Nyakureba, who is a newly admitted partner at Maunga Maanda and Associates in Mutare, former Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs minister, Advocate Eric Matinenga and international award winner Beatrice Mtetwa.
