Erasmus Shalihaxwe
The cabinet has approved the implementation of a small claims court as a matter of urgency to decongest the courts, a call made in August by Affirmative Repositioning movement (AR) leader, Job Amupanda.
The deputy minister of information, communication and technology, Modestus Amutse, announced on Thursday that Cabinet directed the Ministry of Justice to deliver quality service to the public.
In August, Amupanda said he will not allow the establishment of a tender court, and the government should rather concentrate on enforcing the bill to establish a small claims court, which has been with the government for 34 years.
“We are not going to allow and accept a tender court to be created on top of a commercial court. We want a small claims court so that people have a place to go when they are owed money,” he said.
According to Amupanda, the government has already created a commercial court, which he labelled a “rich people’s court.”
Amupanda was reacting to vice president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, who suggested that there is a need for a special court to deal with tender disputes, which led to a delay in delivering medicines to state hospitals. Nandi-Ndaitwah expressed her discomfort over hospitals lacking medicine due to tender disputes.
“Chief justice, together with the prosecutor general, I want you to look into these issues very seriously. Can’t we have special courts to deal with tender disputes?” said Nandi-Ndaitwah at the time.
On Thursday, Amutse told the public that the cabinet had also directed the Ministry of Justice to implement an urgent program to clear the backlog of deceased estates at the Master of the High Court and at the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF).
“Review the regulations for trust accounts to protect the public from possible abuse by lawyers who administer the trust accounts, review the management of the Guardian Fund, and fill the vacancies in the legal sector to clear the court backlog and ensure access to justice,” said Amutse.
The deputy minister added that the cabinet has further approved, in principle, the proposed amendments to the Legal Aid Act, 1990 (Act No. 29 of 1990) and plans to proceed with the next steps in the law-making process.
“The proposed amendments will enhance the service delivery and operational efficiency within the Ministry of Justice; address the growing demands by allowing delegation of decision-making powers; and enhance access to justice by increasing the coverage of persons through the inclusion of applications that are in the public interest and affecting the livelihoods of citizens,” he explained.
