THE Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has cracked the whip
and transferred all its officers at Rusape Magistrates’ Court in a bid to
protect the “integrity and professionalism of the organisation” amid a slew of
corruption and criminal abuse of office allegations that had dented their
continuous involvement in the local criminal justice system, The Manica Post
can reveal.
The paper has it on good authority that magistrates, clerks
of court, court recorders, interpreters, community services officers, cleaners
and security personnel were served with notices of transfer in a major shake-up
in which they were posted to various stations across the country.
The transfers take effect on June 1, 2019.
The shake-up has, however, coincided with the retirement of
regional magistrate Mr Livingstone Chipadza, who sources said would be replaced
by regional magistrate Mrs Lucie-Anne Mungwari, at the end of May 2019.
The winds of change have however, spared Mr Gift Manyika,
who was posted at the station late 2018.
The magistrate-in-charge of the court Mr Shane Kubonera is
understood to have also been served with a notice of transfer to Esigodini in
Matabeleland South, while Ms Patience Ururu-Madondo was posted to Murehwa.
Mrs Elizabeth Hanzi is going to Chipinge.
A magistrate and two security officers will be transferred
from Chipinge Magistrates’ Court to Rusape.
There had been long standing complaints over the way some
cases were being handled at the court. Allegations abound that some court
officials would “wine and dine” with known criminal elements whose cases were
pending at the court.
Court records had been mysteriously disappearing and in
some cases dockets were tempered with, especially witness statements, in
desperate circumstances aimed at defeating the course of justice.
Some of the acquittals, particularly of high profile cases,
have raised eyebrows, prompting worried citizens and stakeholders to petition
the Prosecutor General’s office to have some cases transferred from the court.
There are unprecedented circumstances where the trial of
some cases failed to kick off almost a year after initial appearances.
In 2018, two clerks at the court were jailed over criminal
abuse of duty after extorting money and foodstuffs from relatives of a suspect
on the pretext that they would secure his acquittal.
Last week another clerk of court, Britt Zambara was
arrested for allegedly tampering with fines books and converting fines to her
own use.
Zambara’s case is pending at the Mutare Magistrates’ Court.
Zambara’s case was reported to JSC via an anonymous letter
and this prompted the commission to crack the whip.
The acting chief magistrate Mr Munamato Mutevedzi confirmed
the transfers, adding that the move was meant to protect the “integrity and
professionalism of the organisation”.
Mr Mutevedzi, however, said it was not unprecedented to
have the entire staff, including cleaners, transferred.
“It is correct that the JSC has transferred all its members
of staff from Rusape to various stations around the country.
“This is not the first time the JSC is implementing this
strategy. This Commission (JSC) has previously used the same intervention to
good effect in other places such as Beitbridge where red flags were raised in
2016.
“Other stakeholders in the administration of justice have
also acknowledged the strategy’s effectiveness and resorted to it.
“The transfers are in accordance with JSC regulations and
its strategic priorities as set out in Section 12 of part 4.4 of the
Commission’s Strategic Plan 2016-2020.
“That strategic focus area mandates the commission to
participate in the formulation and implementation of sector-wide interventions
to enhance integrity of the administration of justice.
“There is no evidence of members of staff engaging in
widespread underhand dealings at the station. We have, however, received
complaints and noted some system inadequacies during routine monitoring and
evaluation visits to Rusape. It then became necessary to realign operations at
the station.
“In an isolated incident which is already in the public
domain, a clerk of court was arrested on allegation of tempering with court
records.
“The veracity of those allegations are only proved in a
court of law,” said Mr Mutevedzi in an emailed response. Manica Post
0 comments:
Post a Comment