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Leonard Ncube in Hwange

BULAWAYO High Court judge Justice Christopher Dube Banda has bemoaned rising violent crimes emanating from beer drinking spots.

Justice Dube-Banda was speaking while officially opening the 2022 Hwange High Court circuit at the Hwange Magistrates Courts yesterday.

He said respect for the rule of law would ensure a crime-free future generation without murders, armed robberies, corruption and domestic violence among others.

The judge said these crimes which mostly lead to murder have become prevalent.

“Bars, bottle stores and other drinking places have become centres of violent crimes.

Petty disputes are escalated until a human being is violently killed. It is saddening that some people have turned beer drinking places, which are supposed to be places of enjoyment, into battlefields where okapi knives, axes, machetes, and spears are used with reckless abandon.

“This conduct is unacceptable and we cannot bequeath to the future generation a violent society.

This violence must stop, it tears our social fabric and destroys our country,” said Justice Dube Banda.

The introduction of lockdowns as a result of outbreak of Covid-19 has seen numerous drinking spots including shebeens mushrooming with people drinking late into the night regardless of curfew times.

The judge said every community member has a role to play in preventing crime, with monitoring mentally ill persons against taking alcohol one of the major interventions.

“The rule of law is a Constitutional value and expresses the principle that all people are equal under the law.

Violent deaths at the hands of other human beings is one of the challenges we as people now have to confront almost daily. Murder cases are now so prevalent that sometimes cognisance is lost of the extreme consequences that flow from it.

“Not only a life is ended but the lives of family and friends are irreparably altered.

There is also a disconcerting phenomenon of violent deaths at the hands of mentally disordered persons.

The communities in which these people live have a part to play in arresting this tide.

Communities must quickly identify such persons living with mental illness and encourage and support them to access effective treatment.

Communities must also ensure persons living with mental illness do not have access to alcohol and dangerous drugs,” said the judge.

He said it is family, friends and community in which they live that are at risk of the violence perpetrated by persons with mental illness hence it is important that family members, friends and the whole community be at the forefront of helping persons with mental illness.

He said such measures will reduce incidents of violent deaths caused by people with mental illness.

“They need our assistance and let us all make it our responsibility to help them,” highlighted the judge.

Justice Dube Banda said there is also an upsurge in violent deaths caused by domestic violence and the nation must collectively condemn it.

He encouraged spouses facing challenges to seek help from the church elders and police.

Justice Dube Banda also bemoaned the upsurge of armed robberies in the country where brutal and evil methods are used.

He said no one is safe from the marauding armed robbers.

He said one other serious crime is corruption and this undermines efficiency, competence, accountability, transparency and the foundational values of a free and democratic society, and to win the fight against corruption everyone must reject it.

The judiciary should uphold standards of criminal justice that are fair and balanced without sympathizing with crime and perpetrators, while all legal counsels including lawyers should not be seen as subverting justice.

He said the courts have scored huge success in case clearance rate despite Covid-19 and use of technology in the justice system with contribute to the achievement of the ideal by enhancing efficiency, reducing backlog, preventing loss and physical damage to documents and increasing transparency as well as ensuring independence of judiciary.

The theme for the 2022 legal year is “Use of technology to enhance efficiency and the rule of law in the judiciary.”

Justice Dube Banda said the official opening of the legal year enables the judiciary to build a relationship with stakeholders.

The legal year opened on 10 January and the Hwange circuit first quarter has 25 cases, all murder set down for hearing.

Present at the official opening were magistrates, prosecutors, Judicial Service Commission staff, chiefs Shana, Whange, Nekatambe and Mabhikwa, Service Chiefs, Hwange District Development Coordinator Mr Samule Muleya, captains of industry, civil servants and community members. — @ncubeleon