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George Maponga Masvingo Bureau
MASVINGO will today become the third city after Harare and Bulawayo to have a permanent High Court after the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) upgraded Masvingo Civil Court premises to house the superior court.

Vice President and Minister Responsible for the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa, will officially open the Masvingo High Court, in a move that is expected to improve justice delivery in the province and beyond.

The opening of the permanent High Court in Masvingo is part of the ongoing thrust by the JSC to decentralise the High Court and ensure efficient and speedy handling of cases.

Before the opening of the Masvingo High Court, only Harare and Bulawayo housed permanent judges of this court while other provinces were serviced by periodic circuit courts.

Speaking at the newly-refurbished Masvingo High Court where he was supervising final touch-ups ahead of official opening today, JSC deputy secretary Mr Walter Chikwanha said everything was set for the historic opening.

“Everything is going according to plan ahead of the official opening of the High Court permanent seat in Masvingo by Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is also responsible for the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, tomorrow (today),’’ said Mr Chikwanha.

The JSC deputy secretary could not be drawn into revealing how many resident judges will be at the new Masvingo High Court.

He said Masvingo was chosen to become the first city outside Harare and Bulawayo to have a High Court because of its central location in the country.

“The new Masvingo High Court will handle cases from as far as Beitbridge in Matabeleland South, Zvishavane and Mberengwa, parts of Chivhu and Mvuma in the Midlands, parts of Manicaland because of its central location that is why we chose to have the High Court in the city ahead of other cities,’’ Mr Chikwanha said.

Speaking during a visit to assess progress in upgrading the Masvingo Civil Court into the High Court a few months ago, Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku said the JSC wanted to decentralise High Court operations to bring justice closer to the people.

Chief Justice Chidyausiku said people were spending a lot of resources and time to travel to Harare and Bulawayo to access justice saying decentralisation of the High Court would solve such challenges.

He noted that many cases took long to be heard in the superior court because only Harare and Bulawayo had High Court seats that heard cases from all over the country.

The JSC has been making remarkable strides to improve justice delivery across the country.

Recently, the commission successfully managed to build a new regional court in Chiredzi, easing pressure on the regional court at the Masvingo Magistrates’ Court in the provincial capital.