Antonia Guvava

Husband

Antonia is divorced.^[1]

Education

She did her Ordinary Level at St. Dominic's Secondary School and her Advanced Level at St Ignatius College from 1997-1978.^[1]

Legal Career

Justice Antonia Guvava was appointed as a Judge of the High Court in 2001. She was later elevated to the Supreme Court in November 2013. Antonia Guvava was appointed to the Constitutional Court in 2013.^[3]

In April 1983, Antonia Guvava joined the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs as a Public prosecutor Grade II and was based at Kadoma. In 1984, she was transferred to Harare Magistrates Court where she worked as a Prosecutor in the Provincial Courts. From 1985 to 1986 she advanced to Public Prosecutor Grade I and started prosecuting in the regional Court.

In December 1986, she transferred to Masvingo Magistrates Court as Prosecutor in-charge and continued to prosecute in the Regional Court. In 1987 she was made Provincial Public Prosecutor of Masvingo province and advanced to Senior Law officer Grade. She started prosecuting in the High Court in 1988 and dealt with murder cases and continued prosecuting in the Regional Court and did administrative work.

In December 1989 she was transferred to the Head office of the Attorney-General's Office in Harare where she continued to prosecute in the High Court and also dealt with appeals in the High Court and Supreme Court.

In January 1990 she advanced to the Grade of Principal Law Officer and in August 1991 she was promoted to the post of Chief Law Officer. Guvava moved to the Legal Advice Department of the Attorney-General's Office in February 1992. Her duties involved giving legal advice to all government departments, checking international agreements, scrutinizing and approving minutes to the President and supervising junior officers. She was also a member of the Interministerial Committee on Human rights whose functions are to advise the Government of Zimbabwe on its obligations on Human Rights conventions, prepare and present such reports to the UN Committees or to the African Commission.

At one time she presented Zimbabwe's 2nd and 3rd report before the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights at its 21st Ordinary Session: 15 - 21 April 1997 (Mauritania).^[1]

In 1997 she submitted her name for election as one of the members of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights filled during the 33rd Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government

Notable Cases

MDC-T Supreme Court Judgement

Guvava was one of the judges that handed down the MDC-T Supreme Court Judgement on March 31, 2020.

Centenary Farm Row

In 2017, she was part of the Supreme Court bench that reserved judgement in a matter in which prominent Matabeleland South commercial farmer David Connolly was appealing against an order to vacate a farm that Dr Ray Ndhlukula possessed a valid offer letter for.

In 2016, Connolly was ordered to vacate Centenary Farm in Figtree by Harare High Court Judge Justice Joseph Musakwa.

Connolly, through his company, JC Connolly and Sons (Pvt) Ltd, had since 2014 been locked in a legal wrangle with Dr Ndhlukula, over the ownership of the farm whom he cited as the first respondent in his appeal.

Justice Musakwa said Connolly was in occupation of gazetted land, which was compulsorily acquired by Government in 2000.

Presiding over the Supreme Court session in Bulawayo in 2017, Justices Paddington Garwe, Ben Hlatshwayo and Antonio Guvava reserved the ruling to a later date.^[4]

Worker's Allowances

In 2015, Guvava was also part of the Supreme Court bench that ruled that allowances are not a right for workers but was at companies’ discretion.

The ruling was handed down following an appeal filed by the National Railways of Zimbabwe, which was challenging a Labour Court ruling and an arbitrator’s decision, granting the rail company’s workers housing and educational allowances.

Part of the ruling read:

His (arbitrator) finding that housing and school fees allowances ‘have to exist in one form or the other’ was misguided, devoid of any legal basis and irresponsible. So, too, was the subsequent award of the said allowances in percentages lacking evidential foundation and, as submitted by the appellant ‘plucked out of the air’. Clearly, the arbitrator acted outside his powers when he purported to set the terms of the collective bargaining agreement between the parties, and the Labour Court erred in law when it upheld the arbitrator’s award.

Guvava unanimously ruled with Vernanda Ziyambi and Elizabeth Gwaunza.^[5]

Farm Mechanisation Scheme

In July 2020, Antonia Guvava was listed, in the BSR of 18 July 2020, as a beneficiary in the 2007 RBZ Farm Mechanisation Scheme, as a result of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme.

The data is analysed by recipients origin:.

• Mashonaland provinces had the most beneficiaries, both in terms of numbers and value.
  

Mashonaland East got US$47,5 million,
Mashonaland West US$44,7 million
Mashonaland Central had US$34,2 million.

• Two Matebeleland provinces had a combined total of US$13,9 million.
• Masvingo US$26,4 million,
• Manicaland US$18 million
• Midlands US$14 million.

Antonia Guvava is listed under the thematic group “Political Referees: Judges”. According to the list, she is owing US$68,380.00. ^[6]

References