The Master of High Court's Office has been weaned from the Judicial Service Commission as part of elaborate measures to inspire confidence among litigants in the adjudication of disputes of deceased estates' cases involving widows, widowers and orphans.
Previously, the Master of High Court's Office was under the JSC, which also administers courts, a development that created a perception of conflation between that office and that of judicial officers who would eventually preside over disputes involving deceased estates.
This was said recently by Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Ziyambi Ziyambi, in the National Assembly during the Second Reading of the Administration of Estates Amendment Bill.
The Bill seeks to provide for better and autonomous administration of the Office of the Master of the High Court to enable the office to serve the people efficiently and in a decentralised manner.
During debate, some legislators had indicated that separation of the Master of High Court from JSC was unnecessary as it created another cost to the fiscus.
Others raised concerns that it was not clear how taking the Office of the Master out of the JSC will improve its efficiency since the duties of the Office would remain the same.
In response, Minister Ziyambi said housing the Office of the Master in the JSC had several administrative and structural difficulties, one of which was that the JSC was headed by a judge, who is naturally obliged to hear disputes of estate administration when they arose.
"Now, if anything happens or any consequence happens along the way, it will go before the same people for resolution. In other words, if anyone within the judicial system manipulates an estate, the report is to the courts, which are again the same people who are administering the Office of the Master," said Minister Ziyambi.
"So it was now difficult to say, are these individuals going to get justice in an arrangement where they are complaining to the very same people that are administering the office? I have received individuals who would come and say, 'Minister, I lost my house, this is what happened', and you then wonder whether, even if you are to try and solve that issue, will there be justice?
"So, our position was to separate because there is nothing that the courts are doing, the Master is doing everything. Let us separate it so that if there are disputes, these can be taken to courts that are independent and are not conflated by the administrative role that they have been playing.
"Therefore, we decided to remove that function from the JSC and it stands alone as an office that will administer estates in Zimbabwe. It will improve efficiency, it will allow for dispute resolution, and if there are disputes, they will go to court just like any other disputes if they arise."
Minister Ziyambi said another concern from stakeholders was that having a judge on the board of the Master of the High Court would not be prudent for the same reasons.
"We need somebody who is maybe qualified to be a judge, but a sitting judge being on the board is a waste of resources. Again, it will bring that conflation of roles that we are now taking somebody who is supposed to be an independent arbiter and bringing him again into a system that we are saying we want to separate and ensure that it becomes independent," said Minister Ziyambi.
"Mr Speaker Sir, accountability and efficiency are necessary for such an office whose responsibility amongst others is to cater for our widows, widowers and orphans."
Minister Ziyambi said he would move for amendments to provide for the incorporation of the Deputy Master and one Additional Master into the Board as ex-officio members given the specialised and technical nature of the office's functions.
Their incorporation, he said, will add value to the Board's deliberations due to their better understanding of the organisational culture, technicalities and operational dynamics.
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Minister Ziyambi said he did not agree with those who felt a clause conferring powers to the Minister to give policy direction was not fair as in their view, that gave the Minister excessive powers.
"The Minister's powers are actually limited within the Bill to say that even when the Minister decides to issue policy direction, those directions, before they are published, he must consult the Office of the Master to say to the board this is what we want to do, what is your take on this," he said.
Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs chairperson, Dr Energy Mutodi, said during their consultations with the public, it was felt that there was a need to continue supporting widows, widowers and orphans.
"Moreover, the public pleaded for extensive awareness campaigns regarding the mandate of the office of the Master as well as decentralisation of the office to all districts to ensure protection of vulnerable groups in cases of inheritance," said Dr Mutodi.
