TANZANIA: Judiciary rules out graft special court

Written by FAUSTINE KAPAMA.

THE Judiciary has ruled out on the possibility of establishing a court, as Special Division, for trying corruption cases with Chief Courts Registrar, Ignas Kitusi, saying special courts have not achieved the goals for which they were established.

“The issue here is what causes whatever problems in the present system. Let us address those problems first instead of establishing a special tribunal. You will be just renaming the same system in my view,” Mr Kitusi told the ‘Daily News’ last week in an exclusive interview.

“If other matters are left as they are with same judges, infrastructure and financial resources, you don’t cure the problems by establishing a special tribunal. You will end up picking from the main registry the very judges, who are there and overworked and you give it another name, you call it a special court,” he said.

The Chief Courts Registrar was reacting to a recent debate in which lawyers and other personalities have been discussing whether a special court to handle corruption cases alone in Tanzania should be established.

The first person to set the matter in motion was Prevention of Corruption and Combating Bureau (PCCB) Director General, Dr Edward Hoseah, who reportedly underscored the need for introduction of the court, alleging it would help address graft problems in the country and speed up dispensation of justice.

However, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Dr Eliezer Feleshi, differed with the proposal, claiming formation of such special court was immaterial. He said that what was needed was to enhance capacity of available courts to make them effective. In his part, Mr Kitusi explained that establishment of a court was a constitutional matter.

“Courts are creatures of the Constitution. If the constitution is amended to establish such a court, that will be upon the legislators to do so,” he said. Mr Kitusi pointed out that the available experience shows that in normal circumstances, there are good intentions behind establishing special court, but such intentions are sometimes not realised.

“We have an example of establishment of special court for lands. I do not think if it has achieved the intended desired goals. We have a serious problem with that special court,” he said without going in detail.

According to Mr Kitusi, over the years they have received arguments for the establishment of other special courts like the family division of the court to fast track family matters, especially probate issues. “So, the trend is to ask for special courts. Now, if we take that route, we will end up with special courts, which will no longer be special.

But I think the discussion is invited and it is upon stakeholders to decide if we need a special court for corruption cases,” he said. Mr Kitusi also said there should be reasons if the stakeholders think the present system has weaknesses, the question should be whether we address the weaknesses and rectify them and the only way of addressing the shortfall is by establishing a special Tribunal for corruption cases.

Currently, there are three special courts as divisions of the High Court, specifically handling labour, commercial and land cases. Most of the commentators claim such courts have not been able to reduce the disputes that are pending in the country in the areas for which they were created.

Source: Daily News (02/04/2013): http://www.dailynews.co.tz/index.php/local-news/16049-judiciary-rules-out-graft-special-court