President Samia Suluhu Hassan has directed all stakeholders in the judiciary to expedite the hearing of cases in different courts, stressing timely justice delivery. Similarly, the Head of State has asked judges, magistrates and other officials within the judiciary to be led by their conscience in the course of discharging their duties, so that justice is done during releasing the final verdict.
The President issued a directive during the official launching of six integrated justice centres, which will help Tanzanians to have access to justice as well as easing the burden of travelling long distances to access judicial services. The newly launched centres which were constructed at the cost of 51,5bn/- courtesy of a loan from the World Bank are located in Dodoma, Mwanza, Arusha, Morogoro, Kinondoni and Temeke.
Speaking at the Dodoma integrated justice centre, President Samia underscored the need for the judiciary to capitalise on the use of ICT, in order to fast track the hearing of cases as well as reducing backlog of cases. She directed the Chief Court Administrator, Prof. Elisante Ole Gabriel, to meet with authorities in the Ministry of Information, Communications and Information Technology and those from the Ministry of Finance and Planning to look on the possibility of increasing bandwidth from the current 100 million that the judiciary receives from the government to 400 million bandwidth which are needed for internet use.
"Now that you need to intensify the use of ICT in justice dispensation, there is no way the government can deny you enough internet services, in any case the directive is not implemented, my doors are open, therefore, you can bring your concerns to me," she said. The President expressed her commitment that the government would continue offering support so that justice can be done in all the courts countrywide.
She paid tribute to the judiciary for coming up with an idea to introduce integrated justice centres, especially the centre in Temeke, Dar es Salaam which will specifically deal with family disputes which are on the rise in the region. According to the Chief Court Administrator, the six centres were constructed at the cost of 51,5bn/- which is part of a loan amounting to US Dollars 65 million (over 149bn/-) which the government obtained from the World Bank.
According to Prof. Ole Gabriel, these are justice surgery centres, which are important in the justice value chain. "We will make sure that we protect these infrastructures, so that they can be used by the future generation," he said. At the event, the Minister for Justice and Constitution, Professor Palamagamba Kabudi said the centres were important in ensuring that different cases were heard expeditiously. "The centres are part of the implementation of the ruling CCM party Manifesto which talks of having proper judicial infrastructures that ensures good governance and the rule of law," he insisted.
According to him, the official launching of the centres came at the right time when Tanzania is preparing to commemorate 60 years of independence later in December this year as he insisted that the judiciary had recorded several achievements. Chief Justice Professor Ibrahim Juma said the centres were part of the ongoing judicial reforms, adding that they were part of a crucial investment, which would help the country to maintain peace and unity which are important for economic development.
"For the past few years we have been implementing a five year strategic plan in the judiciary and these integrated centers are a clear picture that we want implemented in the development vision 2025," he noted. The Chief Justice said that even as the centres had been constructed at a higher cost, they had a multiplier effect in justice delivery adding that Tanzania was the first country in Africa to have such centres.