Politics and Society
Zimbabwe’s Midlands State University shines at the 9th Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition
From Zimbabwe all the way to Geneva to participate in the 9th Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition, the Midlands State University (MSU) made up of Brian Tatenda Madziba and Conrad Melusi Clinton Nyathi became the first-ever Zimbabwean law school team to come first in the Heads of Argument Category. Congratulations to MSU, thank you for making Africa and Zimbabwe proud.
The 9th Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition also known as the Olympic Games of Human Rights was held from the 17th to the 21st of July 2017, in Palais de Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland. The competition which is open to both undergraduate and master’s degree law students was presented by the Centre for Human Rights, based at the University of Pretoria, with the support of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, in collaboration with the Regional Office for Southern Africa of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (ROSA).
For Zimbabwe, which had two schools representing it in the competition, The Great Zimbabwe University and the Midlands State University (MSU), it was MSU that made history. The MSU team which was made up of Brian Tatenda Madziba (a final year student) and Conrad Melusi Clinton Nyathi (a fourth year student) became the first-ever Zimbabwean law school team to come first in the HEADS OF ARGUMENT CATEGORY.
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Opening ceremony of the 9th Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition Photo: Twitter/ CHR Human Rights
In a press release posted on its Facebook page, MSU said, “Competing against some of the best law schools globally, that included Oxford University and Yale Law School from the United States of America, the Midlands State University moot team finished with an average score of 89%, which was far ahead of some of the planet’s best law schools to finish as number one in the category. This means for the 2017 edition of the competition; Midlands State University are the world champions in this category! This is a great achievement which no law school in Zimbabwe has ever achieved at the global arena.”
The University’s Executive Dean of Law, Dr. G Manyatera said, “This is a milestone achievement which parallels no other in our law school’s history. It is a victory for legal education in Zimbabwe as a whole. It is a testament to the quality of legal education at MSU which is geared towards meeting national, regional and international exigencies. Quality legal arguments are the bedrock of jurisprudential development in any legal system and we are excited that our students are world champions in this respect.”
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The teams that qualified for the African group included Malawi (Chancellors College, University of Malawi), Kenya, (Kisii University and Strathmore University), Zambia (University of Zambia), and Zimbabwe (Midlands State University and Great Zimbabwe University). The Kenyan team from Strathmore University produced the best oralist, Cindy Wakio who was ahead of students from Oxford University.
Congratulations to the Midlands State university, thank you for making Africa and Zimbabwe proud.
