adminsaid.
He said providing affordable legal services would guarantee the protection of individual constitutional rights of Zimbabweans from all walks of life.
Mr Chikono was speaking at the launch of Hope Legal Aid Trust in Harare on Tuesday, where he said legal rights did not distinguish between the rich and the poor.
“Almost without exception, all individuals experience legal problems during the course of their lives,” said Mr Chikono.
Legal problems, he said, did not pick their victims and the HLAT membership breakdown cut across the whole of Zimbabwe.
“Inequality and disregard for individual rights arise when there is imbalance of bargaining power. Being exploited is costly and not having a lawyer on your side when you need one is more costly.”
In some cases, Mr Chikono said, people were being wrongly convicted because they were unable to present their defence in court, starting with the initial interview at the police station. Mr Chikono said exorbitant legal fees played their part in that ordinary people could not afford to pay lawyers and ended up representing themselves in court.
HLAT is run by trustees, the majority being legal practitioners whose chairman is Mr James Makiya of Makiya Legal Practitioners. It offers legal services to the public in packages that range from US$10 to US$30 a month.
Online Reporter