Harare Mayor, Jacob Mafume, has said the city council will be collaborating with the judiciary for the establishment of municipal courts in Harare.
Mafume was speaking after the official opening of the legal year at the constitutional court in Harare Monday.
The mayor said citizens must have easy access to the courts, therefore the city council will be providing land to the judiciary for the construction of municipal courts.
“The judicial system wants justice to be centred on the people, so as city council we will help the justice system by providing them land to build more courts. We will give them land in Tafara, Budiriro and Highfields so that people cannot walk long distances to access the justice system.
“At the moment, people are walking long distances from areas such as Budiriro, Tafara, Highfields getting into town when they should not be doing so, and we want courts to be where the people are,” said Mafume.
“People should have faith in their city council. We are also hoping and pushing for municipal courts as part of the judicial services system so we can deal with people’s complaints like unlawful seizure of vehicles and property.”
Municipal courts are expected to preside over land allocation disputes, cases involving illegal vending, traffic offences, among other functions.