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Court Reporter
A number of suspects failed to appear in Harare courts yesterday because the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service did not have fuel to transport them. ZPCS spokesperson Chief Superintendent Elizabeth Banda said they would continue to engage the Judiciary Services Commission and other stakeholders to ease the fuel problems.
“It is the right of every person to attend his or her court session, but at the moment the fuel we have is not enough for our effective daily operations,” she said.
“We will continue to engage the justice delivery system and our stakeholders accordingly to ensure that the situation is rectified.”
Chief Supt Banda said while they were working hard to normalise the situation, it was likely to continue for days to come.
“We appreciate that it is a disadvantage on the part of an accused person to be remanded in absentia and having the matter rolled further. It is our mandate to ensure that they attend court, but our allocation is still erratic and not enough.”
The fuel woes started around March and the Judicial Service Commission’s secretary, Justice Rita Makarau, said the situation created justice delivery backlogs.
Online Reporter