Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE Principal Judge, Mr Mustapher Siyani, has directed all judicial officers serving at the Integrated Justice Centers (IJCs) to work with high discipline and quality, warning that who will defy the order will not be tolerated.
He issued the directives over the weekend during his first official visit to the Judiciary, Arusha Zone, since he was appointed by the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan, to hold the post on October 8 this year.
Speaking to judicial officers from the Arusha High Court Zone, Mr Siyani made clear his expectations and that of the Judiciary of Tanzania in general that the services which will be provided at the Integrated Justice Centers must be different from other services that have been given throughout other years.
“We have had a lot of challenges, which we have been talking about them together for years. Now is the time to do away with those challenges that we are all aware of,”the Principal Judge told the judicial officers.
He noted that the Judiciary for many years has been accused of corrupt practices, impolite language, acts of misplacement of court files and poor service delivery.
“These issues will not be allowed in at the Integrated Justice Centers. Anyone who finds himself unable to work in this building should report to the Court Administrator because we will not tolerate each other, “he stressed.
The Principal Judge pointed out that accountability, discipline and high integrity are the things that are expected at the at the Integrated Justice Centers and all judicial officers serving at the facilities would be evaluated after training on how they are supposed to behave and perform their duties.
He therefore demanded that every court official from the lowest to the highest levels to be accountable at a completely different altitude while serving at the centres.
“We want the people who will come to receive services at this center to see the difference not only in the beauty of the building but also in the quality of services we provide to them,” Principal Judge Siyani said.
During his visit, the Principal Judge congratulated the Arusha Zone Judge in Charge Moses Mzuna for the excellent performance report he presented at the meeting which was well detailed showing good things, including the speed of determination of case, a core function of the Judiciary of Tanzania.
in his report, Judge Mzuna explained that Arusha Zone is made up of two administrative regions of Arusha and Manyara consisting of 11 districts which, for Arusha Region are Arusha, Arumeru, Longido, Karatu, Monduli and Ngorongoro and for Manyara are Babati, Hanang ‘, Kiteto, Mbulu and Simanjiro.
He stated that many court buildings are of good condition with some places have new buildings as well as undergoing minor renovations to improve the working environment and move services closer to the people.
He added that the project for the construction of the Integrated Justice Center has been completed and judicial activities from the Primary Court to the Court of Appeal are already in place in the new building.
The Judge in Charge, however, informed the Principal Judge that the state of the Judiciary infrastructure in some areas especially the Primary Courts was still poor.
In terms of cases, Judge Mzuna stated that for the High Court from 2020/2021 to November 16, 2020, a total of 820 cases remained and for the period January to November 2021 a total of 627 cases were received, those determined were 842 and the remaining cases were 820.
On part of the High Court, Labor Registry, the Judge in Charge revealed that as of November 2021 there were 290 cases received and 405 completed and the total number of cases remaining was 389.
In the case of the Resident Magistrate and District Courts, Arusha Zone, the Judge in Charge said that as of November 2021, a total of 2,981 cases had been received, with a total of 3,170 cases being heard and the remaining 2,174.
Regarding the Primary Courts, the judge informed Mr Siyani that as of October 2021, a total of 981 cases remained in Arusha Zone, while in the period January to October 2021 a total of 7,091 cases were received. In addition a total of 7,171 cases were heard and thus 901 cases remained.
According to Judge Mzuna, children’s cases were also given special attention where, he said, as of November 2021 a total of 126 cases had been received and the number of completed casess was 99, making the remaining 72 cases which are pending.
During the visit, the Principal judge was accompanied by judicial officials from Headquarters, including the Registrar of the High Court of Tanzania, Shamillah Sarwatt, Secretary to the Principal Judge Obadia Bwegoge and Court Administrator of the High Court (Resident Magistrate Courts) Ms Masalu Kisasila.
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