Mwinyi assures conducive environment for legal aid services
ZANZIBAR: PRESIDENT Hussein Mwinyi has promised that his government will continue to improve the working environment for the public and private institutions that provide legal aid services in the country.
President Mwinyi expressed the commitment in his speech read on his behalf by Second Vice-President Hemed Suleiman Abdulla at the climax of the 5th anniversary of legal Aid week.
The event was held at the Sheikh Idriss Abdulwakil Multipurpose Hall, Kikwajuni. “Zanzibar government through its ‘Constitution and Legal Aid Department’ will continue to implement its programme along with the Mama Samia National Legal Aid, and also support other national and international campaigns that aim to empower citizens to access justice through legal aid,” Dr Mwinyi said in his speech.
He highlighted that legal aid service providers including paralegals, have been supportive to the society in accessing justice as they provide legal education and legal aid to various groups, including young and students.
He mentioned that at least 419, 401 people, majority of them being women (226, 172) have received legal aid in the past year, and that the launch of a special phone call number will help many citizens to access legal aid services.
Dr Mwinyi said “It is an important step forward in improving the service and definitely guarantees the availability of legal aid which is also a major link between paralegals/legal aid service providers and citizens, most of whom own electronic devices including mobile phones.”
He urged Constitution and Legal Aid Department as well as legal aid service providers to continue educating the public about the existence of the launched special number for legal aid services and the ongoing digitalisation which is aimed to ease access to justice.
Zanzibar Minister of State in the President’s Office (Constitution, Legal Affairs, Public service and Good Governance) Mr Haroun Ali Suleiman praised the paralegals and other legal aid providers for doing a great job of volunteering in provision of legal education and legal aid to the people.
He asked the government to look into how it can help the paralegals/service providers to sustain their good work for the interest of the people and asked the District and Regional Commissioners to provide offices for legal aid providers in each district so that they can carry out their duties with efficiency.
On their part, the representatives from the development partners in the legal aid services including UNDP, Legal Services Facility (LSF) and UN Women, promised to strengthen relations with the Zanzibar government and various stakeholders to ensure timely access to justice for all people, including victims of violence and sexual abuse.
Earlier, the director of the ‘Constitution and Legal Aid Services Department’ Ms Hanifa Ramadhan Said explained that her office opted to create a special number that will be used to facilitate access to legal aid services and also be a link between the department, legal aid service providers and citizens.
She thanked various Institutions and Organisations including LSF, UNDP, UN WOMEN, the judiciary, Police and reformatory (prisons) centre for their great contribution and cooperation they continue to provide in improving legal Aid services.
