Hurungwe welcomes regional court
PEOPLE here have applauded Government for opening a regional court in Karoi, saying this would expedite the delivery of justice, particularly for people in Hurungwe and Kariba.
The people from these districts had to travel to Chinhoyi to attend the regional court while incurring huge costs, especially on transport. A regional court is the highest court presided over by a magistrate and deals with serious criminal cases, including rape, robbery and attempted murder.
The opening of the regional court last month has seen some cases that used to be referred to Chinhoyi now being tried at the Karoi Magistrate’s Court, thus reducing the backlog at the Chinhoyi Regional Court.
Prominent Karoi-based lawyer Mr Samuel Muemeki said the setting up of the court in Karoi would benefit both litigants and those in the legal fraternity.
“Although the objective of the courts is not to jail or acquit, but to deliver justice, some innocent people sometimes end up being sent to prison for contempt of court after they failed to raise cash to travel to Chinhoyi,” he said.
“The development has brought relief to litigants most of whom ended up using their legal fees to meet travelling and subsistence costs.”
Mr Muemeki said travelling to Chinhoyi was costly and inconveniencing for most litigants. “It was indeed inconveniencing people,” he said. “Imagine a case being remanded to the next day, for someone who has nowhere to sleep in Chinhoyi.” Chief Chundu, who is also a Senator, said the move will boost crime reduction in the area, as quick conclusion to cases such as rape will give deterrent signals to would-be offenders.
“Bringing finality to cases like rape used to take too long due to the huge backlog at the Chinhoyi Regional Court,” he said. “When members of the community saw an accused person spending four years on bail and roaming about in the same area where they would have committed the crime, they ended up losing confidence in the judiciary.”
Chief Chindu said some of the perpetrators also fled from justice because of the backlog in Chinhoyi.
“Due to such long delays, some cases turned weaker after the deaths of witnesses,” he said. “A period of four or five years waiting for trial is not a joke.”
A resident at Magunje Growth Point Mr Gibbons Thondhlana also welcomed the setting up of the regional court in Karoi. “The coming of this court means that the honeymoon is over for criminals such as rapists,” he said. “Trials will be done when evidence would still be fresh. This is very good.”
Construction of the court building, which was completed more than a year ago, was funded by the Danish International Development Agency.
Chief Magistrate Mr Mishrod Guvamombe last year said the decentralisation of the courts was meant to shorten distances travelled by people in Hurungwe and Kariba.