Women dominate Zimbabwe’s magistrates’ bench as Ju...

Women dominate Zimbabwe’s magistrates’ bench as Judiciary embraces digital future

Munyaradzi Mashiri—Court Correspondent

Zimbabwe’s lower courts are seeing a quiet revolution—and women are leading the charge.

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has sworn in three new magistrates, tipping the gender scale even further: women now outnumber men by nearly 50% in the country’s magistracy, with 147 female magistrates compared to 98 males.

Chief Magistrate Vongai Guwuriro, speaking after the swearing-in of Tafara Machaya, Nyarai Patience Mushoriwa, and Meggie Ruzive, said the trend is unmistakable.

“We now have 247 magistrates. The majority of applications we receive are from women,” Guwuriro said.

This development underscores a broader transformation underway in Zimbabwe’s judiciary—one not only marked by gender parity but also by bold steps into the digital age.

Guwuriro announced the continued rollout of the Integrated Case Management System (ICMS), a digital platform aimed at speeding up court processes and improving access to justice.

“We’ve already rolled out ICMS in Mashonaland Central and Matabeleland North. The superior courts’ experience with digitisation helped us streamline the process,” she said.

With power and internet backups in place and staff now trained on the new system, the JSC is preparing to expand ICMS to Masvingo and Matabeleland South.

To build public support and understanding, the commission has launched “ICMS Fridays”—a ”nationwide awareness campaign targeting both rural and urban communities. Traditional leaders are also being roped in to spread the message and ensure grassroots buy-in.