shloboe boe
Harare Bureau
The Judicial Service Commission has embarked on a capacity building exercise for traditional leaders in which they will be trained on how to improve their skills and knowledge as they preside over customary cases in their jurisdiction.
The training is expected to go a long way in capacitating them and enhance the administration of justice at all tiers of justice delivery system and dovetails with the National Development Strategy1.
In a recent interview, JSC secretary, Mr Walter Chikwanha said traditional leaders preside over customary law courts hence they were part of the justice delivery system where they equally needed to be capacitated.
“We are going to interact a lot with our traditional leaders. We have taken a position as JSC that we need to support and adequately resource our traditional leaders. The Constitution is clear that the customary law courts are part of the judiciary and customary law courts are adjudicated upon by chiefs, they are part of the judiciary, so we have an obligation as JSC to support them,” said Mr Chikwanha.
“Equally important, we need to support them in terms of skills development. We have mandated the head of the judiciary training Institute to start a training programme for those chiefs so that they observe, for example, the rules of natural justice when they preside over their cases.”
He said JSC had since engaged the Chiefs Council led by its leader, Chief Mtshane Khumalo and they have agreed on the parameters.
“I have held a meeting with the Chiefs Council President Mtshane Khumalo where we have agreed on the roadmap that we are going to take in terms of capacitation of the chiefs. So the capacitation of customary law courts is not only restricted in training but also in resources where we need to resource them properly so that the courts will adjudicate matters, respecting the fundamental human rights of our people,” he said.
Mr Chikwanha said it was critical that customary law courts be torch bearers in terms of discharging quality justice.
In an interview, Chief Mtshane Khumalo said: “It’s true the Judicial Service Commission has been in touch with us as the Chiefs Council of Zimbabwe on training and other capacitations. It has been long since the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs or Judicial Service Commission has undertaken any training to boost traditional leaders’ ethics and procedures on Customary and Local Courts Act as presiding officers of those courts at community level.
“The last interaction was in 2018 and at our last meeting in early December 2024, we agreed to come up with Chiefs who will sit on some of the sub-committees like legislative, training and others. The Judicial Service Commission has already been furnished with that list and we hope the sub-committees will start operating sometime this year.”
In the past, the social media has been abuzz with videos of some traditional leaders saying unpalatable words on litigants such as defendants in their customary law courts.
This has raised concern by some stakeholders who called for their training.
The recently promulgated Marriages Act has also conferred traditional leaders as marriage officers where they can legally preside over unions.
This has also created a need for further training so that they have an appreciation of the law.
Siphakeme .Mnindwa
