Reaction mixed on Magufuli speech

Dar es Salaam. President John Magufuli’s scathing attack on the Judiciary on Thursday has drawn mixed reactions from legal experts and politicians.

President Magufuli addressed issues of corruption in the Judiciary during Law Day commemorations in Dar es Salaam, telling magistrates and judges to do their work effectively so as to keep pace  with that of his government.

Some commentators said the Head of State was within his powers to question the way the Judiciary operated while others said it took more than the availability of funds for the Judiciary to carry out its duties effectively.

They reacted to the President’s order to the Treasury to release Sh12.5 billion in five days for the Judiciary to repair its infrastructure on the condition that it delivers judgments on over 400 cases of tax evasion as soon as possible.  

The President said he was unhappy with the way the courts were handling over 400 tax evasion cases that were currently pending.

“The cases involve evading tax to the tune of Sh1trillion..this is what the country has lost,” said President Magufuli.

Advocate Silvanus Mayenga of the High Court of Tanzania said: “Giving money to the Chief Justice to repair infrastructure is one thing and implementation is another thing that is basically determined by different court technicalities.”

The lawyer said there were issues like investigations to enable the court to get evidence beyond reasonable doubt before judgment is made to ensure that justice is made.

He also said court proceedings also required time and effectiveness which in the end consumed time ahead of judgment. “There is a line between the emphasis of the President’s speed in fulfilling duties and the reality of cases and court proceedings which are also governed by the law,” said Mr Mayenga.

On suspects of national trophies, he said  the accused were caught by the police and not by judges and thorough investigations must be conducted to ensure whether there is truth in cases filed in courts.

 “The court has to assure itself that evidence provided for the case is clear and not fabricated.” The Judiciary’s responsibility is to prove beyond reasonable doubt and this cannot be compromised by time for the sake of being decided in a short period of time,  he explained.

Mr Mayenga said corruption is common in criminal cases involving poaching, sleaze and drug trafficking  because people involved are rich and influential and they use their financial muscles to ensnare judges.

“Considering the judges’ poor financial standing, criminals use back doors to silence judges, resulting in delayed judgments or quashing of their cases ‘for lack of evidence’,” said Mr Mayenga. Mr Zitto Kabwe, the leader of ACT-Wazalendo, said the President’s speech during the Law Day commemoration showed that he was still on a campaign mode.  “I was both happy and shocked by the President’s words in his impromptu speech,” said Mr Kabwe. “The President’s speech showed a leader who is truly touched by relevant issues but lacked governance ethos.”