She said as a woman leader she would make a difference within the society’s five-year strategic plan. “Our 2015 priorities include gender issues, human rights, making the Law Society more visible and helping people to be more aware of their rights. People should know where the Law Society is and lawyers themselves need to reach out to the people,” she explained.
Nyemba said the society had a task to debunk the growing belief that lawyers have become corrupt, but she admitted that there were “a few bad apples among lawyers here and there”.
“The statistics of errant lawyers have been blown out of proportion. The growing number of lawyers and sprouting legal firms would naturally create a few unscrupulous practitioners among us, but the public should be assured that the situation is under control,” she said. Nyemba was not at liberty to give the statistics of the bad apples, but indicated that her society was doing everything possible to regulate lawyers and make them accountable to clients. “Reports of wayward lawyers could be an unfortunate result of the bad state of the economy and poverty,” she added.
Rule of law
She is determined to promote justice and rule of law during her two-year term of office. “To promote professionalism among our members, we will hold training workshops for lawyers across the country, which will focus on legal ethics, anti-corruption, keeping of Trust Accounts, criminal and labour law issues among other areas of concern,” Nyemba said. Such workshops would help build people’s confidence in lawyers and would make participants keep abreast with the dynamic legal world, she added.
Nyemba called on lawyers to promote confidence and provide protection to clients through professionalism, saying “Like security guards, lawyers should protect the legal profession
She said it was always disheartening for lawyers to lose a court case, as it was every legal practitioner’s desire to rejoice with clients after the conclusion of a trial. “As much as a lawyer would love to win all court cases, there are cases beyond our control, as the facts of the case would determine the judgement. Lawyers do not create facts for a case but our role is mainly mediatory and to provide comprehensive mitigation on behalf of the client.” The Law Society of Zimbabwe was formed in 1981 to replace the previous Bar Association. It draws its membership from all registered legal practitioners residing in Zimbabwe. It has full control over the profession from training and admission to regulation of membership in terms of trust accounting transparency, client compensation, discipline and independence of the profession.
Biography
Vimbai Nyemba was born in 1968 in the rural district of Mberengwa. She completed her primary education at Chengwe and Mbirashava schools and continued her schooling at Musume Secondary School. She attended Girls’ High School in Harare for her Advanced Level studies. after which she enrolled at the University of Zimbabwe where she studied Law.
After graduating, she went into private practice in various Law firms, including Galen Moyo. In 1997, she started her own law firm, V Nyemba and Associates.
She was inspired to enter the legal profession by one of her cousins who wanted to be a lawyer, and by the television programme, ‘Customs Law’. A devout Christian, Nyemba believes that Christianity and legal practice are close allies, as the two strive to promote justice.
Post published in: Gender Equality