THE Judiciary of Tanzania has started the construction of six High Court buildings to be known as Integrated Justice Centres (IJC), a major project to be implemented in five regions of Dar es Salaam (which will have two buildings), Mwanza, Dodoma, Arusha and Morogoro.
Such court buildings are like one stop centre, meaning that one building will accommodate all judicial services from Primary Court level to the Court of Appeal.
Thus, IJC will comprise the Primary Court, the District Court, the Resident Magistrates’ Court, the High Court and the Court of Appeal.
According to information published on the Judiciary’s website, the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Standing Committee started last week visiting the construction projects of various court buildings implemented countrywide and has been satisfied with the construction progress.
The first review involved recently completed Kondoa and Manyara projects for the District Court and the Resident Magistrates’ Court buildings, respectively.
Committee Acting Chairman, Emmanuel Mwakasaka congratulated the government on the good work done.
“The construction of these buildings has gone so fast. We did not expect this. We are very pleased with the work done. Congratulations to all judicial officials,” Mr Mwakasaka, who is also Tabora MP, is quoted as saying.
Speaking during the inspection of the building of the Manyara Resident Magistrates’ Court, Minister for Constitutional and Legal Affairs, Dr Augustine Mahiga, congratulated the Judiciary on the speedy construction of court buildings in various parts of the country.
“The situation we found here shows that a lot of work has been done and the appearance of the building is now good and has been completed,” the minister is also quoted as saying.
It is reported that the committee has also moved to Arusha to inspect the construction of the Longido District Court building in the region before visiting the High Court’s building in the city where another IJC is constructed.
According to the parliamentary timetable released recently, the committee will thereafter receive and discuss a Ministry of Constitutional and Legal Affairs report on the implementation of a Legal Aid project and later visit and inspect the project relating to legal aid service providers in the region.
The committee will, thereafter, move to Morogoro Region to visit and inspect the construction of another High Court building with IJC status and another project for the construction of the Ngerengere Primary Court building.
It is indicated in the timetable also that the committee will receive the Ministry’s report on the implementation of development projects implemented by the Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) for the 2019/20 fiscal year.
