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Spotlights Brenda Wood Kahari ‘72 University of Dayton Quarterly, Summer 2007 Rules of Law In March, Zimbabwe’s government announced an annual inflation rate of 1,729 percent, the world’s highest. Officially, unemployment is 80 percent, though many work in the country’s informal sector. Robert Mugabe, president since the country’s independence in 1980, is in his mid-80s, and so the country is facing the question of succession. Still business goes on, and so the country needs lawyers like Brenda Wood Kahari. Many of her firm’s clients are foreigners or non-resident Zimbabweans doing business in the country. Despite the country’s problems, “for the most part, the private companies in industry and commerce are still functioning in Zimbabwe and the government civil servants who handle the regulatory aspects of various departments…continue to perform their duties,” she said. Love brought Kahari, a UD psychology grad and Howard University law grad, to Zimbabwe, the home country of her husband, Muzanenhamo Eric Kahari. They met in Cleveland where she was practicing law at Squire, Sanders and Dempsey. The Dayton native went on to complete a masters in international law at Georgetown, then the couple move to Zimbabwe, where in 1986 they set up a law practice (http://lawyersforafrica.com) specializing in intellectual property rights, corporate transactions and corporate law. The government’s unpopular land reform and economic policies have brought a “general loss of morale in almost every sector,” she said. “So the first challenge to survive as a law practice business is to ensure that we provide adequately for our staff…assist[ing] whenever possible extended families, private charities and self-help programs.” The firm must also help clients navigate the legal landscape by advising on product and service lines, joint ventures, acquisitions and mergers, and the country’s foreign currency restrictions. “As lawyers in Zimbabwe we must be catalysts for social change by providing accurate information to our clients on proposed and current legislation and regulations, business customs and practices as well as offering appropriate legal solutions,” Kahari said. —Caroline R. Miller ‘07

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