Africa-Press – Lesotho. The South Region Chief Magistrate Manyathela Kolobe said the Judicial purse keeps shrinking despite rising inflation. This he said reacting to conditions of the Mafeteng Subordinate Courts. He told Informative Newspaper following the national tour of the Minister of Law, Justice, Constitutional Affairs and Human Rights Professor Nqosa Mahao’s visit to Mafeteng Subordinate Courts on Friday. Kolobe said the 12 courts in Mafeteng districts are afforded M12 000 for an operational budget of three months.
The amount he said cannot address the courts’ needs. Reacting to the Minister’s visit, Kolobe said he is hopeful that he will take their issues with relevant stakeholders and address them. “We don’t think he ( Prof. Mahao) will say the M12 000 budget is enough. We hope he will work this issue and request that it be increased,” he said. Of this funding, he said the courts are expected to buy office supplies and said they sometimes fail to fix ceilings and taps in courts and paint court buildings.
The South Region Chief Magistrate also told of the challenge of conducting capacity building sessions for court staff to keep abreast with the latest developments concerning their work.
He said sometimes the court staff contribute money out of their pockets and it becomes difficult to reimburse it owing to the shoestring budget they operate by.
The other challenge he spoke of is that there is no proper heating systems at the courts, some he said are not electrified. He went on to express confidence over the Ha-Ramakoatsi Central Court and that of Mapotu Local Court which he says has all necessary amenities for
proper functionality but said they await electricity installation for the latter. For his part, the Minister said he has embarked on national field trips to take stock of the working conditions of
court workers and courts conditions with a view to address their challenges. He said his responsibility is to ensure they are well resourced for proper
administration of justice. This past Friday he visited Ha-Ramokoatsi Central Court, Mapotu Local Court, Kolo Local Court and Mafeteng Magistrate Court.
“Judiciary is the important organ of governance,” he said. Prof. Mahao said he has had an audience with the Acting
Chief Justice ‘Maseforo Mahase and the Judges of the High Court as well as the three regional Chief Magistrates. The Senator said he is conducting this
visiting exercise working closely with the office of the Chief Justice. Commenting on the situation of Mafeteng courts, Mahao said some have good infrastructure which require maintenance
while others like Kolo Local Court are in poor conditions. Talking of the general needs, which he said are the heating systems and absence of stationery said they need “human
resources. ” On the complaint of lack of urgency in paying the terminal benefits of the servants going on pension, he had promised to get into it. Earlier this year in February at the
ceremonial opening of the High Court, the Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) ‘Maseforo Mahase said the Judiciary challenges keep “escalating. ” “The main challenges being and are related to
the allocation of finances. Year in and year out the budget allocated for the entire Judiciary is so inadequate that to me it is a miracle that the Judiciary
is still functioning to date,” said ACJ Mahase. She further charged that due to resources constraints, it becomes a challenge for courts to fully perform their duties
adding that “this in turn results in the loss of confidence in the courts by members of the public. ” Coming down hard on the governments, ACJ said that “successive governments are ignoring the Constitutional mandate of resourcing the Judiciary thereby failing to uphold and protect the rule of law.”
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