Judiciary raises the bar in war against corruption

Fidelis Munyoro Chief Court Reporter—
The judiciary has come up with strategies to combat corruption in the magistrates’ courts countrywide to correct perceptions that the widespread plague is acceptable in the magistracy, Chief Magistrate Mr Mishrod Guvamombe has said. This is part of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC)’s key areas in its strategic plan to build public trust in the judicial service. Mr Guvamombe said this while presenting a paper at the JSC workshop held in Harare at the weekend.
“Our campaign against corruption would, among other things, be achieved by insisting on high integrity levels in the judiciary,” he said.

The chief magistrate said they have also put anti-corruption posters at prominent places at all court centres as a mechanism of fighting corrup- tion.
“Each poster is headlined by an anti-corruption slogan, which calls for zero tolerance towards corruption and each presents a cartoon and structures that would be effective in the fight against corruption,” said Mr Guvamombe.

“The main aim is to build awareness of the dangers of corruption by poster campaigning. This would conscientise members of the public on what steps to take if they detect corruption.”
Mr Guvamombe also said they would use training workshops as another effective measure to combat corruption in the lower courts. The training, he said, would cover magistrates and support staff on the aspects of the bad effects of corruption.

“Corruption is a menace, which must be eradicated with the participation of every member of staff,” said Mr Guvamombe.
“Usually, the training is focused on identifying the types of corruption, risk assessment, preventive strategies and investigative skills.”

Corruption has reached unprecedented proportions in recent years presenting the biggest challenge that is not only leading to impoverishment but also threatening the stability of the country and it is now one of the major obstacles to national develop- ment.