THE Danish government says it is committed to helping Zimbabwe in various developmental projects as long as the country is prepared to move towards a full democracy by upholding the rule of law and human rights.
ALBERT NCUBE OWN CORRESPONDENT
Speaking on the sidelines of a tour of the newly built Esigodini Magistrates Court on Friday, liaison officer at the Danish Embassy Erik Brogger Rasmussen said his country would continue to pour funds into the governance, justice, agriculture, water and power infrastructural development sectors, as long as Zimbabwe showed signs of moving towards democracy.
“The historical background between Denmark and Zimbabwe has been a bumpy one, stormy, almost like a love affair,” he said.
“In the early years we were strong supporters of independence. After independence, the leader established himself with a strong name across the country and then because of human rights atrocities in the early 2000s, we closed our programmes and moved out.
“Now we are gradually trying to rebuild the relationship with the government and we have been having meetings with ministers on finding ways on re building ties, it’s a process but we are moving in the right direction we have generally strong relations with the people of this country.”
Rasmussen was speaking on behalf of the Danish Trade and Development Co-operation minister Mogens Jensen, who had to make a hasty return to his homeland to attend to pressing government business a day before his scheduled visit.
Rasmussen said the adoption of a new Constitution and the decline in cases of human rights abuses had resulted in the Danish government re-engaging Zimbabwe.
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“There have been some notable changes and the most visible one is the adoption of the new Constitution,” he said. “In terms of human rights abuses, the numbers have gone down substantially over the last years and that’s a sign that government has changed course,” he said.
“We are not there yet. There are still human rights violations, so more needs to be done, but definitely there is a development on the positive side that has caused us to start the re-engagement process with the government of the day. Through dialogue we are encouraging them to continue in that path in moving towards a fully democratic society.”
His sentiments were echoed by the deputy secretary in the Danish Foreign Affairs ministry Morten Jespersen, who said his government was happy to partner Zimbabwe in developmental projects, adding they expected to stay forever in this country.
The two were accompanied by members of the Danida External Grant Committee, which plays a key role in the Danish developmental programmes globally.
Danida funded the construction of the courtroom that boasts of “key access to justice features” that include ramps for easy wheelchair access, a legal aid office, victim friendly room, child testimony room, two courtrooms that allow for civil and criminal cases to be heard simultaneously, high quality recording system and closed circuit plasma screen, witnesses waiting room and public toilets.
Deputy secretary of the Judicial Services Commission Frank Chikwana said the construction of the new magistrate’s court would speed up court processes and called for transparency in the courts.
“The Legal Resource Foundation office would help our dominantly rural people, who cannot afford legal representation,” he said.
The Esigodini Magistrate’s Court previously operated from a makeshift courtroom at a building originally meant to be a supermarket.
