AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE Zanzibar Minister for Constitution and Legal Affairs, Mr Khamis Juma Mwalimu, has encouraged young people and university graduates to join the field of paralegals because it is important for the development of the country.
“It is evident that one paralegal acts as a strong voice to poor and marginalized section of people in our country towards access to justice. I recommend everyone to build trust with these people for the welfare of our community,” Mwalimu said
Speaking at the 2nd SADC (South Africa Development Community) region paralegal conference held here, the minister emphasized on encouraging youths and graduates from universities to join the paralegal profession.
He said qualified and competent people like graduates would be the heart of the success of the Paralegalism in SADC region, and that it is important to ensure that paralegals work hand-in-hand with other legal aid providers in provision of legal aid services.
The minister informed participants that both governments (Zanzibar and Union) were committed in supporting paralegals and other legal aid providers, by ensuring favourable environment due to their valuable contribution on the access to justice as well as economic growth.
Some participants could not fly to Zanzibar to attend the conference because of travel restrictions caused by COVID-19, but they were able to participate through video conference, and heard the minister thank the Paralegal Alliance Network (PAN) for organizing the conference.
“I join hands to recognize the support of Open Society Foundation, Open Society Institute for Southern Africa (OSISA) and Legal Services Facility (LSF) for technical and financial support of the conference,” Mwalimu said.
On his part, the Permanent Secretary- Ministry of Constitutional and Legal Affairs, Prof Sifuni Mchome said coverage of paralegal services was extensive.
“The paralegal service coverage in Tanzania is good, but we still have challenges that need to be addressed. These include shortage of funding, shortage of skilled human resources, and limited understanding of the public on paralegal services,” Prof Mchome noted.
At the end of the meeting, participants agreed that collaboration between governments and CSOs is needed in order to recognize paralegals; and the governments should involve paralegals in planning and should have special fund/ budget.
Mr Phillip Sabuni from PAN- Zambia said they also agreed that volunteerism needs collaboration and networking in order to provide legal aid service, especially in marginalized groups.
