Government has
invited a top-notch Ugandan Anti-Corruption Court judge to train Zimbabwe’s
Judiciary, ahead of the establishment of anti-corruption courts.
Justice Lawrence Gidudu, who has been heading Uganda’s
Anti-Corruption Court for five years, is in the country to conduct a week-long
training to be attended by judges, magistrates, prosecutors, anti-corruption
investigators and police officers, among other stakeholders.
He is the third judge to head the special Ugandan ACC, as
they call it, since it was established in 2008 as a special division of the High
Court to try corruption and related cases.
Justice Gidudu’s training visit was announced by Chief
Justice Luke Malaba during the official opening of the 2020 Legal Year, when he
noted that Uganda had waged the war against corruption, through its specialised
anti-corruption courts over the last 10 years, building up a wealth of
experience in the field that Zimbabwe wanted to share.
In an interview yesterday, Judicial Service Commission
(JSC) spokesperson Mr Brian Nkiwane confirmed the week-long training workshop
starting in Harare, today.
“Justice Gidudu of Uganda will conduct the training which
will not be limited to our judges and magistrates only.
“Uganda has scored so many successes in as far as fighting
corruption is concerned, hence it was felt that we will benefit as a nation.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), members of the Zimbabwe
Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) and members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police
(ZRP) will all be trained.
In his address during the opening of the 2020 Legal Year,
Chief Justice Malaba said the Judiciary was pressing ahead with fighting
corruption, which has been declared enemy number one by President Mnangagwa as
it is seen as the antithesis of the concepts of transparency and
accountability.
The JSC has since made a decision to establish specialised
anti-corruption courts at a higher level as part of measures to complement the
Government’s call for all institutions to join hands in the corruption fight.
Presently, courtrooms for the anti-graft crusade are under
renovation and judges have been appointed in Harare and Bulawayo.
Said Chief Justice Malaba: “After noting the strides that
other jurisdictions have taken in setting up similar courts, I made contact
with my counterpart, the Honourable Chief Justice of Uganda, to seek assistance
in the professional development of local judicial officers.
“Uganda has been running specialised anti-corruption courts
for the last 10 years. They have, as a jurisdiction, done exceptionally well in
the adjudication of corruption related cases. I am positive that our judicial
officers and other institutions involved in the fight against corruption will
have a lot of lessons to draw from Uganda’s experiences.”Herald
0 comments:
Post a Comment