GOVERNMENT LOSES TOO MANY CASES IN COURT IN TANZANIA !!!

GOVERNMENT  LOST CASES IRK THE PRESIDENT

President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete with (from left) Constitutional and Legal Affairs minister Asha-Rose Migiro, Chief Justice Mohammed Chande Othman and National Assembly Speaker Anne Makinda in a solemn moment of prayers that preceded speeches during the occasion to mark Law Day at the High Court grounds in Dar es Salaam yesterday. PHOTO | ANTHONY SIAME      

By The Citizen Correspondent

Posted  Thursday, February 5  2015 at  09:50

In Summary

Speaking yesterday at an occasion to mark the Law Day, President Kikwete linked the loss of cases by the State to shoddy police investigations. This situation only work in favour of accused persons, including the culpable ones.

Dar es Salaam. President Jakaya Kikwete yesterday said he was getting increasingly troubled by high number of cases the government was losing in courts. He directed the police to ensure they conduct thorough investigations prior to the stage where they produce a suspect in court.

Speaking yesterday at an occasion to mark the Law Day, President Kikwete linked the loss of cases by the State to shoddy police investigations. This situation only work in favour of accused persons, including the culpable ones.

He said this situation has led to delay in determination of cases, which translates to denial of justice to many innocent people who suffer for crimes they did not commit.

He said sometimes the police take people to court in a haste, only to discover at later stages that they arraigned someone who hadn’t committed any crime and that stage, a lot of time and resources have been lost.

“Conduct thorough investigations, finish it and then go to court with a clearly prosecutable case and ample evidence,” said President Kikwete.

He said he was optimistic that implementation of “civilisation of prosecution services”, an arrangement in which the prosecution of cases won’t be conducted by office of the Director of Public Prosecution, will help in improving the pursuit of justice for both the State and the public.

Yesterday’s event was also attended by the Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Anne Makinda, Chief Justice Mohammed Chande Othman, the Director General of Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau, Dr Edward Hoseah and other senior public officials. Said the President further:

“Why so much hurry? I ask myself this question when I hear the prosecution tell the court that it has not completed investigations; it amazes me and I am made to ask: why then did they arrest and take the suspect to court?”

President Kikwete took more than 20 minutes outlining the reforms that the Judiciary has gone through since he came into power, noting that the institution has made remarkable progress.

He said the changes taken by the Judiciary in the past eight years have improved people’s perception of the country’s justice system. He said it was encouraging that the courts are now enjoying people’s confidence more than ever before.

Mr Kikwete said that as he leaves office after completing his term spanning ten years, he will be proud that he will have been the President who appointed the largest number of judges: from 45 in 2006 to 97 in 2015 of which 16 form the Court of Appeal while 81 are in the High Court.

The Head of State added that, out of this number, 39 judges are women, representing 39.2 per cent the total number.

Earlier, Chief Justice Othman requested the government to consider giving free legal advice to people who are unable to hire advocates for serious cases.

Currently, every murder suspect gets legal representation and Mr Justice Chande is pushing for the right of those charged with other grave cases to enjoy that right too. He said the Judicial Service Commission would be ready to formulate a strategy for implementing this plan.

He noted that the right to access justice in the country is hindered by, among other things, fear associated with people’s ignorance on how the courts operate.