Maravi

(TALKZIMBABWE) Lawyers survive on starvation wages: Chinamasa

Lawyers survive on starvation wages: Chinamasa
TH/TZG reporters
Thu, 17 Sep 2009 05:01:00 +0000

JUSTICE and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa says corruption, lack of funds and material resources have severely affected the smooth operations Zimbabwe's justice delivery system and lawyers were surviving on "starvation wages".

Minister Chinamasa said critical levers in the justice delivery system were crippled by lack of resources and funds. He added that lawyers and various stakeholders in the judiciary survive on "starvation wages".

He was speaking at the joint Judicial/Legal Practitioners Colloquium held in Victoria Falls recently.

"We know for a fact that in the justice delivery system there are no computers, the systems are not computerised and transport affects the whole system.

"These constraints have contributed to no meaningful supervision on performance of the judicial system currently taking place," he said.

Minister Chinamasa lamented the conditions of service for all the key players in the sector.

He said judges were being paid US$300, a salary he described as "starvation wages" that undermine their morale and that of other members in the justice delivery system.

During his presentation, Minister Chinamasa conceded there was rampant corruption in the prosecution, magistracy and legal profession.

He urged members of the judiciary to exercise impartiality in their duties, saying Government had done its part in laying a firm foundation that would bring an end to the polarisation, which characterised the society over the past decade.

The minister said the formation of the inclusive Government in February this year removed obstacles that hampered the smooth functioning of the justice delivery system.

Minister Chinamasa said the new dispensation provided a platform for economic recovery and growth.

TH/TZG

Labels: LAWYERS, PATRICK CHINAMASA

posted by MrK @ 4:09 PM