MSLC benefits 478 during trade fair
DAR ES SALAAM: ACTING Director of Legal Aid Service in the Ministry of Constitution and Legal Affairs, Ms Ester Msambazi has said that a total of 478 Tanzanians have benefited from the Mama Samia Legal Aid Campaign (MSLAC) during the 48th Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF) exhibition which ended over the weekend.
The service provided included legal education, advice, preparation of legal documents, marriage and land disputes. She said 333 of beneficiaries were men and 145 were women.
“We have provided legal advice, connecting them with lawyers, helping them resolve their disputes in administrative ways, land disputes and legal education,” she noted.
According to Ms Msambazi, the platform has provided an opportunity for her office to link the public to legal aid providers and the pool of lawyers.
Ms Msambazi said a total of 125 cases were registered among 30 were for land, eight marriages, 22 inheritances, six criminal, 16 claims, 16 employment, five childcare, one gender-based violence and 21 others.
“Many of them who visited our pavilion were seeking assistance in understanding some legal issues or getting advice on whether they have proper cause to file a case at the court of law, “said Ms Msambazi.
She said that the legal aid is provided by the ministry in collaboration with various stakeholders including eight lawyers from Tanganyika Law Society (TLS), two legal assistants and one student from Law school.
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She said that the campaign team is well organised to assist with drafting all the legal papers free of charge Further she said since it was first launched last year the campaign has reached seven regions and attended over 490,000 people.
Details from the campaign organisers indicate that at least 214,888 men and 200,392 women had benefited.
This also includes 6,824 men and more than 340 women detained or serving in different penitentiaries. Legal aid encompasses rights and legal protection for all individuals regardless of gender or circumstance.
MSLAC says its goal is to assist individuals, helping them understand related laws and procedures. “It’s not a gender issue.”
MSLAC provides legal aid to men and women facing abuse by their partners, children deprived of basic rights by parents, guardians, or their community and disabled individuals experiencing mistreatment, along with counselling and training on protective laws.
Ms Msambazi said MSLAC offers legal aid and basic rights guidelines for prisoners, individuals in despair, the lonely, and those feeling disadvantaged by the legal system.
“Like I said, MSLAC also offers legal aid in marriage disputes, inheritance matters, governance, gender-based violence, child support and communitywide legal education.”
To ensure accessibility, 256 organisations are registered to provide free legal aid services to citizens.
Mr Yunus Lingani, a resident of Dar wa Salaam said the campaign helped him get his rights.
He said MSLAC has helped him to get his plot back in Mkuranga, Coast Region and that he is still following the case for another plot in the same area under the support of the Legal Aid Campaign.
