Zimbabwean Judge President Rita Makarau officially opened the 2007 legal year on Monday with harsh words of reproach for government officials.
Makarau reportedly criticized the political leadership for traveling outside Zimbabwe to seek medical treatment and education, and warned rich and influential officials against trying to escape the realities plaguing the majority of their countrymen and women.
She called for better funding for justice as a whole, and the judiciary in particular.
Lawyer Jesse Majome, a legal issues spokeswoman for the Movement for Democratic Change faction of Morgan Tsvangirai, told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe she doubted Makarau's comments would change anything.