Mozambique Elections: CNE to announce election results at 3:00 p.m. today
Photo: Presidencia da Republica
Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Tuesday urged representatives of the bodies of the administration of justice not to allow anything to distract them from the challenges ahead of them, which will demand a great deal of dedication, tenacity and courage.
He was speaking to them on the occasion of “Legality Day”, celebrated on 5 November every year. This year’s events are held under the motto “For a System of Administration of Justice that Promotes Legality, Transparency and Probity in Public Management”.
This theme, Nyusi said, fits in with the government’s priorities and meets the need to ensure a system of managing human, material and financial state resources, within the postulates of legality in a transparent and credible manner.
He praised the steps taken in improving the provision of legal and judicial services. More than 800,000 citizens had been granted legal aid over the past five years, said Nyusi, and labour tribunals were now functioning in the cities of Maputo and Matola.
Administrative tribunals were now operational in all provinces, and the fiscal and customs tribunals had been reorganised.
Nyusi stressed that the legal framework to guarantee transparency in public management has been strengthened. All the provinces have produced anti-corruption plans, and the President believed these had produced positive results. More than 5,000 corruption cases have been processed and in over 3,000 of them charges have been brought.
There had been inspections of over 200 institutions at central and local level, including municipalities, leading to disciplinary proceedings against more than 4,000 state and municipal employees. Of these, 900 cases had been channelled to the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption (GCCC).
But the President believed more can and should be done. “Greater efficiency and credibility of the judiciary must be assured”, he said, which involves legal reform and alterations to the structure and organisation of the judiciary.
This reform, said Nyusi, must be done by and with the Mozambican experts in the legal system.
He also called for speed in settling cases – for one of the main complaints against the Mozambican judicial system is how long it can take for courts to reach a definitive decision. Good quality court decisions reached quickly, he added, “should be a palpable reality, a characteristic of the judiciary which inspires citizens and institutions to submit their disputes to the judiciary in the certainty that the decisions will be correct, legal, fair and quick”.
Nyusi added that the fight against corruption, or any other type of crime is only possible if the country has a credible and transparent judiciary, which inspires public and private institutions to obey the law.
He warned of the damaging effects that acts of corruption within the legal system have on society. “When an agent of justice is involved, the message transmitted is that the judiciary as a whole is corrupt and criminal, and so cannot be trusted”, Nyusi said.
Representing all the bodies of the administration of justice, Machatine Munguambe, the Chairperson of the Administrative Tribunal, pledged that they will do all in their power to satisfy Mozambicans’ needs for justice.
“We reiterate our readiness to continue doing justice for all citizens, regardless of their colour, race, sex, ethnic origin, place of birth, religion, level of education, social position, marital status of their parents, profession or political option”, he declared.
Leave a Reply
Be the First to Comment!
You must be logged in to post a comment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.