EU’s courts, VSUs rehab near completion

Rehabilitation of magistrates’ courts and victim support units (VSUs) funded by the European Union (EU) through the Chilungamo Programme, have been completed.

The development has excited officials from the Judiciary and Malawi Police Service who have expressed hope that the rehabilitated facilities will help improve service delivery to the benefit of the citizenry.

The projects are part of a 2016 financing agreement Malawi signed with the European Commission to implement Chilungamo Programme with financial contribution from the 11th European Development Fund to the tune of 48 million euros.

Speaking in Likoma on Thursday when the EU handed over the rehabilitated Likoma Magistrate’s Court, Chief Justice Rizine Mzikamanda said the gesture was magnificent in the quest for improved access to justice and judicial services.

So far, Mwanza, Mulanje, Ntaja, Balaka, Mchinji, Nkhotakota, Chitipa and Likoma courts have been rehabilitated, while works at Rumphi Court are nearly 95 percent complete.

He said: “The programme has also provided the Malawi Judiciary with support for refurbishment and procurement of court and office furniture as well as information communication technology equipment for at least 10 courts throughout the country.”

The courts that have benefited are for Mulanje, Mwanza, Ntaja, Mchinji, Nkhotakota, Balaka, Likoma, Dowa, Rumphi and Chitipa, according to Mzikamanda.

“They [EU] are determined to help us make ourselves better and we, the recipients and beneficiaries should endeavour to preserve this goodwill, just as we must preserve the good things they have made available to us,” he added.

On her part, Inspector General of Police Merlyne Yolamu said the renovation of the VSUs across the country responds to the needs of communities for human rights friendly and dignified policing services.

“In order to offer such services, which are also child-friendly, gender-sensitive and victim-centred, we need proper service centres. The VSUs whose rehabilitation the EU is supporting aim at facilitating the provision of such services.

“Chilungamo Programme has also been instrumental in building capacity of both investigators and prosecutors. This has helped to improve quality of investigations and prosecution of cases handled by police in the country thereby facilitating conviction of the suspects,” she said.

EU Head of Delegation to Malawi Rune Skinnebach, said a conducive environment is not only a good-looking building but also the treatment one receives when stepping into such a building.

“As such, the EU will soon start the conversation with the Malawi Police Service to explore the possibility of including in the new phase of the Chilungamo Programme adequate training for officers working in the VSUs to improve their skills for the provision of care and support to victims of crime,” he said.

On the courts, he hoped that they will allow the Judiciary to fully perform their role, saying courts can be the difference between vulnerability and security, desperation and dignity.

Apart from the Judiciary and Malawi Police, other beneficiary institutions are the Ministry of Justice, Legal Aid Bureau, Malawi Human Rights Commission, Office of the Ombudsman and Malawi Prison Services.

The main objective of the Chilungamo Programme is to contribute to dignified life through an accountable government, informed democratic choice, and humane and effective delivery of justice

PHOTOGRAPH: JOSEPH MWALE