Davison Kanokanga

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Davison Kanokanga SC AA ARB CIArb is the Senior and Founding Partner of Kanokanga & Partners. He is also the Head of the firm’s Arbitration Practice Group. Davison as he is affectionately known has over the 30 years that he has practised law handled many large and complex arbitration matters both as counsel for one of the parties to the arbitral proceedings as well as an arbitrator. Coming soon is Davison Kanokanga’s book entitled “Commercial Arbitration In Zimbabwe”.

Davison’s main areas of interest include: aviation law, cross-border transactions, commercial law, company law, construction law, investment law, international trade, media and technology law, telecommunications law and procurement law.

Davison is also a member and affiliated to the following associations and or bodies:

  • Commercial Arbitration Centre (Zimbabwe)
  • Law Society of Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe)
  • Association of Arbitrators (Southern Africa) NPC (South Africa)
  • The Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (AFSA) (South Africa)
  • LCIA-MIAC Arbitration Centre (Mauritius)
  • Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (United Kingdom)
  • International Council For Commercial Arbitration

He also sits on the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal with two High Court Judges and one senior lawyer. Davison has travelled extensively and gained valuable connections regionally, continentally and internationally. He was the first Zimbabwean fellow on the International Lawyers for Africa (ILFA) program during which time he was placed at one of London’s leading law firms, Lovells LLP which later became Hogan Lovells LLP on a skills exchange programme funded by amongst other law firms, Clifford Chance, Linklaters, SJ Berwin and Eversheds. He was also of the first Zimbabwean representatives on Advocates Africa and Advocates International.

Firm Overview:

Kanokanga & Partners (herein the firm) was established in 1991 in Harare, Zimbabwe. The firm is a multi-award winning disciplinary law firm with a reputation for offering high quality service. The firm is regarded as a medium sized law firm providing a diverse range of legal services.

The firm maintains an international stance and has the capacity to service multi-national clients due to its close working relationship with international leading law firms and organizations in SADC, East & West Africa, Asia, Europe, North & South America.

Areas of specialty include inter alia: Arbitration, Commercial, Corporate, Criminal, Labour Law, Property Law and Property Transfers.

Our Vision

  • To be a competitive legal advisory service provider in and outside Zimbabwe

Our Mission

  • To provide sound, cost effective, quality legal services to individuals, small to medium size enterprises, non-governmental & inter-governmental organizations, listed and non listed businesses and other persons (real or artificial) requiring competent legal skills.

Our Objectives

  • To professionally provide quality legal services
  • To do justice with compassion
  • To build the law firm’s reputation
  • To promote legal education

Our Values

  • We are committed to upholding professional ethics
  • We are committed to charging reasonable fees
  • We are committed to providing an efficient service
  • We value Integrity; In this regard we are in all our dealings, open, honest and straight forward
  • We value Confidentiality
  • We value Professionalism
  • We value Excellence
  • We value Passion-we are passionate about our work
  • We value Teamwork
  • We value Trust
  • We value Reliability
  • We value our Clients-Our Clients come first. We look after our clients interests as if they were our own

Firm History:

Kanokanga & Partners now regarded as one of the top tier corporate – commercial law firms in Zimbabwe was established in 1991.This without a shadow of doubt, makes it one of the oldest post-independence ‘indigenous’ law firms.

This multi-disciplinary law firm was established by then (26) year old Davison Kanokanga after gaining considerable knowledge working under the supervision of (i) Mr. Patrick A Chinamasa (former Attorney General, Minister of Justice, Legal & Parliamentary Affairs) and (ii) Mrs. Justice Vernanda Ziyambi, Judge of the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court)

Davison as he is affectionately known sits on the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal with one other senior Lawyer and two High Court Judges. He has travelled extensively and gained valuable connections regionally, continentally and internationally. Davison was the first Zimbabwe fellow on the International Lawyers for Africa (ILFA) program during which time he was placed at one of London’s and the world’s leading law firms, Lovells LLP before it merged to become Hogan Lovells LLP on a Skills Exchange Programme funded by amongst other law firms SJ Berwin, Linklaters, Clifford Chance and Eversheds. He was also the first Zimbabwean representative on Advocates Africa and Advocates International.

In addition to practicing law, Davison is a radio and television personality who through his programmes offers free services to the Zimbabwean nation.

For a list of references contact Davison Kanokanga SC.

Richard Henry Pasipanodya

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Founder – Managing Director/Consultant – Legacy IP Chambers – Experienced ARIPO and Zimbawe Intellectual Property Expert

As Founder – Managing Director/ Principal Consultant at Legacy IP Chambers, Mr Richard Henry Pasipanodya is possessed of over 26 years intimately insightful and visionary scholarly and work exposure and experience in various fields and aspects of IPRs protection matters at very senior levels of mandates and assignments at national, regional and international contextual perspectives. These include appointments entailing:

  • IP policy / legislative research, formulation, reviewing, update, reform and development;
  • IP policy / legislative analysis, interpretation, advice, advocacy, negotiation and lobbying;
  • IP policy / legislative administration, management, implementation and execution;
  • IP policy / legislative education, training, authorship, editorial, proof- reading and commentary;
  • IP office institutional systems development, administration, management and transformation;
  • IPRs technology transfer contractual negotiation, drafting, interpretation and management;Investment projects partnership searches, legal compliance, due diligence and coordination,
  • Startup business proposal preparation, advice, counseling and mentorship.

His potency, prowess, exploits and accomplishments thereat rank him as one of the rarely found all-round expert IP practitioners in Zimbabwe and the sub-Saharan African region. Armed with this array of requisite skills, competencies and expertise in IP matters it is his passion and conviction that Africa has an equally proactive role to play in global IP matters and be a force to reckon with in not so distant a future.

Johannes Muchada

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Johannes joined the DMH team in July 2002 and was admitted to practise law in September 2002.

Until 2004 Johannes’s area of practice was general civil law.

In 2005, Johannes started to pursue his keen interests in commercial and corporate law in general, drafting and reviewing agreements, tax law, banking and financial services.

He is currently in the final part of his studies for a Masters in Business Administration Degree.

Johannes is also an Assistant Lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe

Dube, Manikai & Hwacha:

The law firm of Dube, Manikai and Hwacha (DMH) opened its doors to clients on 1 June 1998. It currently consists of eight (8) Partners, three (3) Associates and thirty-seven (37) Support Staff. The firm is known for delivering holistic legal solutions, professionally, promptly and in a cost efficient manner. The firm is composed of well known legal personalities within the legal profession and draws freely from a span of over hundred (100) years legal experience that the Partners and their Associates collectively bring to the practice.

The firm offers a wide range boutique of corporate services to mature and emerging markets. This purpose is reflected in the structure, membership and the growth strategies which the firm drives.

DMH has structured and staffed its operations, under a Managing Partner, to meet the demands of contemporary commercial and general practice.

DMH is an international law firm, whose work has spanned the entire globe in terms of activity, with foot-prints in the SADC region, West Africa, East Africa, the UK, USA, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, Europe and Russia. The firm is a correspondent of law firms in the United Kingdom, South Africa, United States of America, Zambia, Kenya, Malawi and Botswana.

Sternford Moyo

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Sternford is the Senior Partner and Chairman of the firm which he joined in 1981. He provides overall leadership in addition to taking special responsibility for the commercial and corporate law department. He coordinates all activities in the firm and looks after unallocated functions such as responsibility for non‐professional staff. His practice is mostly mining, commercial and corporate law related. During the early part of his career, he taught corporate, commercial and constitutional law. He successfully completed the Media Law Advocates training program run by the University of Oxford.

He has advised financial institutions and loan underwriters in most of the large infrastructure projects that have taken place in post independent Zimbabwe in areas such as forestry, energy, water supply and telecommunications. Sternford has provided advice on navigating Zimbabwe’s empowerment laws and has been actively involved in most of the empowerment transactions which have been publicised so far.

He is a former President of both the Law Society of Zimbabwe and the Southern African Development Community Lawyers’ Association, Co‐ Chairperson of the Human Rights Institute of the International Bar Association, Chairman of Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe Limited ‐a leading commercial bank in Zimbabwe which is a member of the Standard Bank group, Chairman of Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited, Former Chairman of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority and Director of several companies including Alpha Media Holdings Limited, one of the largest and most diversified media companies and Portland Holdings Limited, one of the largest cement companies in Zimbabwe.

He is one of the leading corporate and commercial lawyers in Southern Africa. He graduated with distinction and was named by Butterworths as one of the most Outstanding post graduate law students in 1981

Scanlen & Holderness:

Scanlen & Holderness is a premier corporate and litigation law firm with a rich history spanning more than one hundred years. Our reputation in successfully handling complex legal matters is known nationally and internationally.

We have been involved in numerous land mark cases that have set precedents in many areas of practice. Known for being a commercial and corporate law firm, the firm has been greatly involved in investments, mergers and acquisitions of entities, listings of many companies on the stock exchange and large transactions backed by government to government agreements.

Gary Maitland Crosland

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Graduated from the University of Cape Town in 1976 and 1978 with degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted as a partner in Atherstone & Cook in 1982 and specialises in company and commercial work, both litigious and non-litigious. He has had considerable experience in drafting commercial contracts.

He is also very experienced in dealing with trusts, wills and the administration of deceased estates, and has much expertise in property law and in the conveyance of immovable property; and latterly, with mining law. He also deals with matrimonial matters

Atherstone & Cook:

We have a reputation for rendering high quality legal service, advice and representation. We strive to add value in our diverse areas of expertise. Our relationships with clients are founded upon mutual trust, respect and understanding. As such, we are favoured with instructions by several leading companies and high-profile individuals, and have enhanced our portfolio with many landmark transactions, cases and matters. Our client base includes diversified commercial and industrial conglomerates, entrepreneurs, local and multinational banks, trade unions, media houses.

The firm has a commercial bias, but also provides advice and services in other fields of law. Each partner has considerable specialist expertise. The firm has corresponding attorney associations with some law firms based outside Harare; and associations with law firms in South Africa. We regularly receive instructions from leading firms of solicitors in London. Chambers Global have for 2013 ranked us in Band 1 (highest) for General Business Law (we had same ranking for 2012). They “publish the leading guides to the legal profession” by “identifying and ranking the world`s best lawyers and law firms”.