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Freedom Mupanedemo Midlands Bureau

GWERU City Council has handed over a one hectare stand to the Judicial Service Commission for a High Court building in the city and a second stand Mkoba for an extra magistrates court complex.

This will enable a resident judge to be based in the Midlands rather than having judges from Bulawayo or Masvingo visiting every quarter and using the Gweru magistrates’ courts temporarily.

The council also handed over a stand in Mkoba for a second set of magistrates’ courts in the city, allowing residents of the largest high density suburb to have access to these courts without having to travel to the city centre.

A team from JSC led by Chief Magistrate Mrs Faith Mushure with JSC Deputy Secretary Mr Sithembinkosi Msipa has since visited the two sites and construction is expected to start this year.

Gweru City Council assistant planning director Mr Tapiwa Marerwa said the two sites were big enough to allow for the construction of state-of-the-art court complexes.

“The High Court site is along the Gweru-Bulawayo highway while the magistrate courts is in Mkoba where the majority of Gweru residents stay. The stands are big enough to construct modern structures,” he said.

Mr Msipa said the JSC was happy to bring the courts closer to the people. “We thank the local authority very much for the gesture which is set to bring the justice system closer to the people. The ball is now in our court. We have to move with pace and make sure that the justice delivery is brought to the people’s door step,” he said.

JSC head of corporate services Mr Daniel Nemukuyu said the commission was now working on mobilising resources for the construction of both court complexes in Gweru. The JSC wanted resident judges and courtrooms for the High Court in every province to make access easier, the costs lower and to speed up the delivery of justice.

“We applied for the land from Gweru City council some years back and we appreciate the good gesture from Gweru City Council. As JSC, we want to ensure that we have at least a permanent High Court station in every province. So far we have the High Court with resident judges in Harare, Bulawayo, Masvingo, Mutare and Chinhoyi.

We want to build a magistrates’ court in Mkoba with a view to bringing justice to the people. We are now in the process of mobilising resources and once we get the funds, construction work will commence on the two court stands,” he said.

Mr Nemukuyu said the construction of a magistrates’ courts in Mkoba will go a long way in cushioning the residents who were commuting to the city centre for court sessions.

“The setting up of the High Court in Gweru will make justice more affordable and accessible to all. There will be no need to travel hundreds of kilometres to Harare and other High Court stations for litigation,” he said.

Mr Nemukuyu said the commission was working on decentralising the High Court.

“The construction of a permanent High Court in Gweru will be part of our decentralisation drive. In yesteryears, we used to have our High Courts in Harare and Bulawayo, but now we have already decentralised to Masvingo, Mutare, and Chinhoyi. We want members of the public to have access to the halls of justice,” he said.

With a policy to bring justice closer to the people, the JSC has built 30 new magistrate courts across the country in the last 5 years, taking to 30 the number of new magistrate’s courts built and opened since 2014.