JSC urged to upgrade Mwenezi court

THE Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has been urged to upgrade the Mwenezi Magistrates Court to regional court status so it can handle more serious criminal cases and reduce travel time for witnesses and families.

Mwenezi is one of the biggest districts in Masvingo province by geographic area and is currently serviced by a magistrates court which results in far more serious cases being referred to the regional magistrates sitting in Chiredzi town or Masvingo city, both of which are located hundreds of kilometres away.

This development is out of sync with ongoing efforts to bring justice closer to the people.

Constitutional Court judge Justice Rita Makarau this week appealed to the JSC to consider gazetting Mwenezi as a regional court. Mwenezi was initially serviced by a magistrate travelling in a circuit court before opening of a resident court.

Justice Makarau said the gazetting of Zvishavane as a regional court created scope to also make a similar arrangement in Mwenezi.

She was speaking while officially opening the 2024 Legal Year at the Masvingo High Court where she also lauded JSC for establishing a resident court in Chikombedzi which is perched along Zimbabwe’s south-eastern border with Mozambique.

“I am also informed that Chikombedzi is now a resident court and was officially opened during the year under review and that Zvishavane has been gazetted as a regional court. On behalf of the community in Masvingo, I wish to thank the JSC for continuing to cut down on traveling distances in the province,’’ said Justice Makarau.

“It is in the same spirit that we ask them once again to consider gazetting Mwenezi as a regional court.’’

Police and other key stakeholders in the judiciary such as traditional leaders have also been calling upon the JSC to open a regional court in Mwenezi.

Mwenezi and Chikombedzi’s proximity to the border with South Africa and Mozambique make the two districts hot spots of mainly cross border crime and gazetting regional courts in the two districts would suffice in the fight to curb crime.