Corruption at Kadoma Magistrates Court
21 October 2022
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Corruption at Kadoma Civil Division

There is possibility that Kadoma Magistrate Court clerks are into corruption of some sort.

The Kadoma Magistrate Court located along the Harare Road opposite Ranch Hotel outside the Kadoma CBD, while the Magistrate Court Criminal Division is within the Kadoma CBD.

Firstly, when filing a civil court application, there are forms like Letters of Demand and Summons. Usually the Small Claims Courts Bulawayo and Harare issues these forms for free to applicants, but at Kadoma courts applicants have to photocopy the forms for themselves and one wonders how the same Small Claims Court operates differently depending on geographic location; or someone is misusing money meant for stationery at Kadoma courts.

Secondly, it is usually the custom of Small Claims Courts in Bulawayo and Harare that applicants can serve defendants alone, and then file a certificate of service with the court on the day of the hearing instead of using the Messenger of Court to serve the Summons. I noticed that at the Kadoma Courts the clerks encourage the use of the Messenger of Court to serve Small Claims Summons which is sometimes unreasonable because in the Small Claims Court the money claimed there are very small such that the asking of the applicants to use the Messanger of Court to serve the summons will be like preventing plaintiffs to make Small Claims.

Thirdly, all payments like Court fees are made at the Criminal Court in town and the Criminal Court there in town opens around 10am or 11am, which is a big inconvenience to people who would have travelled from as far as Sanyati and some villages outside town to make trips from Ranch Hotel into town just to go and pay a 300 bond court fee and there in town you are asked to wait until 11am to make a payment.I wonder if the Civil Division court can’t have its own revenue clerk rather than subjecting people to such an inconvenience.

Fourthly, judges are very quick to write judgements but clerks are not typing court judgements.When clients come asking for their judgements or orders they are told the orders are not yet typed.The author is reliably informed that the typist is at the Criminal Court in town and if a party needs a quick service he has to provide transport to clerks so that they take your file to town for typing and if you fail to provide transport to clerks then you won’t get your judgement for ever.I wonder if clerks working at the Civil Division can’t use computers because the building has electricity and why the insistence in having judgements typed in town.Why are public asked to provide transport to government workers? Isnt it possible that these clerks are cashing in using the truck of asking for transport for them to take your file in town for printing? How much is a computer and a printer?

Please share this story until it reaches Chief Justice Luke Malaba

Etiwel Mutero

Kadoma Magistrates Court