RURAL communities have to contend with obstacles to access justice — most of the time the obstacles prove insurmountable — but in Insiza District two female villagers are proving to be heroines as they are helping ordinary people to use the power and majesty of the law to protect their rights.
The community paralegals or grassroots legal advocates, Agreement Ncube and ‑ Thamsanqa Dube, were trained by the Zimbabwe Lawyers Association in Southern Africa. They were trained in basic law and in skills such as mediation, organising, education and advocacy.
Paralegals use their knowledge and experience to help people with legal and other problems. A paralegal may investigate and refer matters to lawyers or relevant bodies which can deal with them.
Agreement Ncube from Zamanjalo Village said she received her training in February last year. “My duty as a community paralegal is to ensure that justice prevails within communities.
I look at the injustice which occurs against both women and men, boys and girls. A man can be abused by a woman and a woman can be abused by a man.
A boy child can be used and a girl child can be abused,” “I was selected by the community and the leadership to undergo training. During the training, we were taught the basics of legal issues and legal processes.
We were also educated on how we should conduct ourselves when dealing with people’s cases. People entrust us with their personal information and we must be discreet.
As a paralegal, I must not judge people and take sides but I must fight for justice to prevail,” she said.
Ncube said while her work is risky, she was adamant about seeing justice prevail. “I once handled a matter involving a community leader and he became furious. I remember he uttered threatening words saying that I needed to be beaten up for interfering in the a airs of his household.
As a woman, I was once in an abusive relationship up until I decided to leave. Having experienced that when I received an opportunity to fight for justice, I grabbed it will both hands. “My focus isn’t on women only because I know that there are some women who are abusing their husbands and the men are quiet about it out of fear of becoming a laughing stock.
People should speak up, no one should suffer in silence. Risks may be there but I want to see justice prevail,” she said.
Ncube said she takes advantage of various community gatherings to share information on the legal system with fellow villagers. ‑ Thamsanqa Dube, who is operating as a community paralegal lawyer in Susaphansi Village, said her work helps to bring legal services closer to the people.
“Access to legal services is a fundamental right to people. ‑ e more people know about their rights, the more they can make informed decisions that protect them.
People should know that they can walk away from abusive situations and get justice for themselves,” she said.
Dube said it was unfortunate that some people are given an opportunity to get justice but choose to reverse the process a er sympathising with the perpetrator. She said it was di cult to handle child rape, teenage pregnancy and early child marriage cases.
Dube said parents of the victimised children sometimes drag their feet, especially after receiving payment from the family of the perpetrator.
Zamanjalo village head, Bernard Nyoni said the services of community paralegals were needed in every village.
He said they play a crucial role in bringing sanity to communities. “It would be ideal to have these community lawyers in every village so that people know of them and seek their services. Their presence will also serve as a caution to lawbreakers. Many people are victimised and exploited and this service will help them greatly,” he said. – The Chronicle
