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George Maponga in Masvingo
THE Zimbabwe Chiefs Council and Great Zimbabwe University have set up a steering committee to spearhead compilation of a basic law syllabus to be used to offer free legal studies to all the 272 traditional leaders.
This should improve justice delivery at low-tier levels where chiefs preside over some cases. GZU’s Herbert Chitepo Law School is expected to start offering basic law studies to the first group of chiefs next year. Zimbabwe Chiefs’ Council president Chief Fortune Charumbira confirmed the development yesterday.
“Our expectation is that the first group of traditional leaders that will undergo basic law studies at GZU will start next year and currently we have a committee made up of members of the Chiefs’ Council and GZU Law School who are working on the course outline,’’ he said.
“After compilation of the course outline we will then sit down to agree on the final syllabus that will inform what should be taught to traditional leaders who are key players in the judicial system as they preside over primary courts.”
Chief Charumbira said traditional leaders would be given options to choose between a certificate, diploma and degree depending on minimal entry qualifications.
He said chiefs needed to be drilled in basic law, record keeping and other basic tenets of law for them to ably discharge justice in rural communities where the majority of Zimbabweans live.
The Dean at the Herbert Chitepo Law School, Mr Victor Nkiwane, is on record as saying the traditional leaders would be taught such modules as Introduction to Law, Ethics and Court Procedure.
Online Reporter