BULAWAYO – CHIEF Justice Luke Malaba said the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) is committed to improving access to justice to all citizens as he commissioned three additional courtrooms at the Bulawayo High Court Friday.

He also spoke against corruption and urged judges to act decisively on perpetrators, saying it was disheartening that corruption continues to affect all facets of life.

The expansion of the Bulawayo High Court, which services Bulawayo, Matabeleland South, Matabeleland North and the Midlands, comes hard on the heels of the opening of a new High Court in Mutare five months ago.

“These two projects (expansion of Bulawayo High Court and establishment of Mutare High Court) add onto several other access to justice initiatives which the JSC has been undertaking at all levels,” said Malaba.

“The commissioning of these three additional courtrooms brings the number of court rooms at Bulawayo High Court to six. The number of courtrooms was deliberately chosen to match the official establishment of judges at this station.”

The station is currently manned by four judges following the retirement of Justice Lawrence Kamocha and the elevation to the Supreme Court of Justice Francis Bere.

Malaba said it was the JSC’s desire to have the two vacancies filled as soon as possible to enable the court to operate at optimum capacity.

“The idea of the creation of the additional courtrooms came out of the realisation at the time that there were three courtrooms and six judges. That meant that three judges would be in court at any given time. Cases that could have been heard and disposed of were postponed,” said Malaba.

He said the system which obtained before was slowing down the justice delivery system.

“There’s no access to justice when citizens, especially the marginalised and vulnerable groups, fear the judicial system and see it as alien. There is no access to justice when the system is financially inaccessible and citizens cannot afford legal representation,” said Malaba.

He challenged all judiciary officers to be diligent in their delivery of justice to citizens.

“As the judiciary we maintain the stance that cases of corruption must be dealt with decisively by the courts. For the judiciary to play the central role in combating corruption, its members must be beyond reproach in the execution of their duties. We have embarked on a programme of continuous judiciary education and training to inculcate into judiciary officers the necessary values for fighting corruption,” explained Malaba.

He said it was disheartening that corruption continues to affect all facets of life.

“It is against that background that I also urge litigants and the public to expose corrupt practices which they experience in the administration of justice” added Malaba.

Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said the expansion of Bulawayo High Court is one the areas that his ministry had identified for completion within the government’s “100 days rapid results” target.

“We’re required to put in place policies and mechanisms that will make it easy for investors to come into the country and invest. As a ministry we’re required to sponsor laws that will promote ease of doing business. A major area of concern for investors is that of the rule of law and that the court system should be able to resolve commercial disputes with minimum delay,” he said.

July Moyo, the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, said his ministry supervised the construction and worked with a team of contractors who designed and constructed the three courtrooms.

The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development provided the funding.