The ManicaPost
Tendai Gukutikwa
Post Correspondent
A deep voice booms, ‘Court rise’ from the other side of the wooden structure.
Everyone in the room stands up. The door is opened and the chief, clad in his chieftainship regalia emerges from the back room.
An aide is carrying the traditional leader’s court records.
The back room acts as the chief’s office at his court.
Acting Chief Raymond Saurombe’s wooden courtroom has all the features of a magistrate’s court.
The courtroom has shiny cement floors, a dock and a witness stand.
Part of the court’s furniture include a desk for the assessors, a messenger and a clerk of court.
Just like a magistrate, when acting Chief Saurombe comes in, he sits facing the gallery and all those in attendance bow before taking their seats on the benches.
Asked on what motivated him to build the modern courtroom, acting Chief Saurombe said his love for justice and his people were the driving force behind the idea.
“In the ‘Thought Leadership for African Renewal’ it is clearly stated that a leader should teach his people and we realised that a traditional leader should be no exception. In fact, this statement is meant to empower African thought leaders to contribute towards Africa’s renewal in the 21st century and beyond, and we are the leaders mentioned,” he explained.
“I abide with those principles and believe that my people should be more exposed to the outside world. As traditional leaders, it is our duty to expose our people to different modern settings, and modern court settings are no exception.
“This includes them having a feel of a real courtroom. We have people from rural areas who appear at civil and criminal court settings for the first time as witnesses or accused persons in later stages of their lives and they just freeze as they will be intimidated by the new environment.
“So as a traditional leader, I took it upon myself to expose my people to such settings. My courtroom resembles the modern one in every way. They keep court records at magistrates’ courts and we also do the same here. We also serve our people with real summons,” he said proudly.
The chief’s court is located at Saurombe Business Centre, a central public area. This is unlike other traditional court sessions which are usually conducted under a tree at the chief’s residence.
Acting Chief Saurombe said the reason for setting up the court in a public area was to ensure accessibility by everyone.
“I realised that when l was conducting court sessions at my house, some people were not feeling comfortable, mainly because of my social standing in the community. However, with the community court located at a public place where anyone has easy access, everyone is comfortable to air out their views. We want people to be comfortable during court sessions,” he said.
The traditional leader works with two messengers of court, a court clerk and four assessors on a rotational basis. At each sitting, the chief works with a messenger of court, two assessors and the clerk of court.
The staff was hired on merit.
“To be a messenger, one needs to be able to read and write as well as to translate documents into English and Shona. For assessors, we normally hire the area’s retired and prominent people. We need justice to prevail in the Saurombe area, and we do that with people who know and understand the Constitution and the country’s various statutes,” he said.
During the court sessions, Acting Chief Saurombe quotes the national Constitution, the community court handbook and the Traditional Leaders’ Act. This has earned him great respect from his people.
The structure was constructed in 2019 through the efforts of the Saurombe community and Border Timbers.
“Seventy-five percent of my land is under plantations run by Border Timbers and after consulting them pertaining corporate social responsibility programmes in the area, they asked what the Saurombe people wanted.
“I told them about my plans for a modern courtroom and the company embraced the idea.
They supplied us with the timber, roofing material and a carpenter. Members of the community chipped in with river sand, water, food and labour,” he said.
Traditional leaders from other parts of the country have visited the courtroom to take notes.
The Saurombe Community Court sessions are conducted on Sundays at 8am and adjourns twice at 10am and at 1pm.
On a busy day, the court ends at 5pm.
Covid-19 prevention safety regulations measures are strictly adhered to and the courtroom is regularly fumigated.
In an interview with The Manica Post, one of the court’s assessors, Mr Doubt Mutakura said the move to modernise the Saurombe Community Court took them by surprise.
“At first we thought the chief was trying to throw away our traditions and force us into modernity, but we later realised that the move was good for the community.
“As the country moves towards Vision 2030, we cannot be left behind in our traditional courts. We need to move with the times and every traditional leader should take a leaf from us, he said.
Mr Farai Chikotosa, one of acting Chief Saurombe’s subjects also said other traditional leaders need to emulate the Saurombe Community Court.
“Honestly speaking, having your matter dealt with at a chief’s residence is a bit intimidating. A community court room is much better. When we heard about this idea, we did everything we could to ensure that we come up with a proper courtroom,” he said.
Ms Lydia Chirinda of Mutambara Village whose matter was transferred from Chief Mutambara’s court to the Saurombe community court said: “At first when we were referred here by our chief, we got lost because we were looking for the chief’s homestead and not a court room. We were used to community courts being held under a tree at a chief’s residence. This is impressive. I have been to Mutare Civil Court and this court looks exactly like that.”
According to the Traditional Leaders’ Act, community courts only deal with non-criminal matters.
After presiding over the matters, Acting Chief Saurombe sends the records for review at Mutare Magistrates’ Court.
