The Herald (Harare)
26 October 2009
Harare — THE Legal Aid Directorate has urged the Government to channel adequate funds to the directorate, which is on the brink of collapse because of lack of funding.
The LAD was created to provide free legal representation to poor citizens facing prosecution.
Addressing participants at a roundtable discussion on ways of improving legal aid accessibility in Zimbabwe, the director of LAD, Mr Nelson Zvidzayi, said lack of resources was threatening the existence of the programme.
"The directorate faces a serious shortage of resources, including office equipment and vehicles," he said.
Mr Zvidzayi said the directorate was unable to provide bus fares for its officers to travel to other parts of the country to provide legal services to the needy.
This, he said, had forced the directorate to confine itself to Harare.
"It is apparent that the Legal Aid Directorate needs to be adequately funded and supported for it to fully meet its mandate," Mr Zvidzayi added.
He challenged the private sector to complement Government efforts in sustaining the legal aid programme in the country.
"This will make it possible for the directorate, for example, to pay its officers transport and subsistence allowances for them to be able to go to other areas outside Harare to also provide legal assistance to needy people," he said.
Mr Zvidzayi said this was crucial to enable the programme to spread to other parts of the country.
He observed that the legal aid directorate was dealing with civil matters, as it lacked experienced personnel.
"This is mainly as a result of the poor remuneration within the directorate, which consequently, leads to it failing to attract experienced officers," he said.
Mr Zvidzayi proposed that inexperienced officers in the directorate should be attached to various relevant arms of the State within the judiciary system.
Mr Innocent Maja, country director of International Bridges to Justice, said many people were not aware of the existence of the legal aid programme leaving them open to abuse.
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