25 Jul 2013

District commissioners will no longer review cases from customary courts as the judiciary should be free from government inteference.

Responding to comments made by members of Parliament during the debate on the Customary Court (Amendment) Bill on July 24, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Peter Siele said district commissioners represented the government thus their reviewing of the cases was seen as government inteference.

He said under the Penal Code, women were not subjected to corporal punishment adding that people were not to be lashed on their backs due to health reasons. Minister Siele also responded to comments that the number of lashes had not been limited but said MPs had nothing to fear because the warrant stated the number according to the hierarchy of the customary courts.

He said it was not financially possible to pay allowances to all headmen of arbitration noting however that government was looking into it. He further said  government was looking into possibility of developing modern structures at dikgotla across the country, adding that dikgotla were under resourced.

The minister said he had consulted Ntlo ya Dikgosi over the matter and had decided that in the next financial year, they would upgrade tribal administration and look into how they could improve efficiency at customary courts.

Legislators approved the bill and it is due for committee stage. ENDS