Former ZEC chairperson Makarau appointed Namibian Supreme Court Judge

Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) chairperson and Constitutional Court judge Justice Rita Makarau has been appointed as an acting Judge of the Namibian Supreme Court.

She will serve between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024.

Makarau is the Justice of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe and former Secretary of the Judicial Services Commission (JSC).

She is the first female Judge President of Zimbabwe.

Makarau is also the Electoral Commissions Forum-SADC President.

Between 1983 and 1984, Makarau worked as a Public Prosecutor at the Harare Magistrates Court before going into private practice.

During her private practice years, Makarau worked for Kantor and Immerman legal practitioners. Makarau had her first case at the age of 24.

From 1988 to 1989 Makarau was the Secretary of Legal Affairs at the Parastatal Commission.

From 1998 to 2000 she served in the Constitutional Commission before she was appointed High Court Judge in December 2000. In 2006, she assumed the position of Judge President becoming the first female to assume the role.

In May 2010, she was appointed a Supreme Court Judge and was replaced by former Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chairman George Chiweshe. In 2013, the principals of the Government of National Unity chose her to be the chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.