Balaka DC hails Primary Justice Project
Balaka district commissioner Rodrick Mateauma has said Primary Justice Project has helped reduce cases at both the magistrate’s courts and police in the district.
Mateauma said this last weekend when he handed over 40 bicycles to community- based educators. He said, through public sensitisation, people in the district aware of which cases to refer to court or police.
“Magistrate’s court and police used to have case burdens because there were many cases to handle. [But] after the project raised community awareness on which cases to be referred to the courts and police, most minor disputes are being resolved at community level,” said Mateauma.
He then commended the project for providing the bicycles which he said will ease mobility problems for the community educators.
“With this assistance, Balaka will not be the same again. I, however, urge the beneficiaries to use the bicycles for the intended purpose,” said Mateauma.
The bicycles have been distributed to the community-based educators from the areas of traditional authorities Kalembo and Nsamala.
The district project officer Peter Chambewu acknowledged that the community-based educators were facing a lot of transport problems. He further said although the project handed over the same number of bicycles during the first phase, they were not enough.
The project, funded by DfID through the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) for Lilongwe Archdiocese, was introduced to ensure that people have cheap and easy access to justice at local level to promote, security, peace and unity in the country.
