A new permanent High Court for the Midlands province is expected to open in Kwekwe this November, a Judicial Service Commission (JSC) senior official has said.
JSC secretary Walter Chikwana said construction of the complex, which will accommodate expansion of the existing Kwekwe magistrates’ court and house the new High Court station as well as the Office of the Sheriff, is nearing completion.
“The court is going to be opened this year and I am quite certain that by November that court is going to be opened because everything has now been done,” Chikwana told journalists on the sidelines of an induction workshop for newly appointed High Court judges held in Gweru.
“Operational preparations are at an advanced stage, with staff appointments having been made for both the magistracy and High Court.”
Chikwana said the chief justice, in consultation with the judge president, had made the necessary appointments for the High Court, paving the way for the new station to be operational.
The Kwekwe High Court will be the country’s sixth High Court station after Harare, Bulawayo, Masvingo, Mutare and Chinhoyi.
The High Court for the Midlands is expected to decongest the Bulawayo and Masvingo High Courts, which have for years been holding circuits and hearings for the province.
The development comes as the region grapples with a high number of third schedule offences, with most murder cases emanating from mining and domestic disputes in districts such as Shurugwi, Silobela, Zhombe, Kwekwe, Mberengwa and Gokwe.
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Meanwhile, Chikwana said the JSC is preparing to roll out the Integrated Electronic Case Management System (IECMS) in Midlands and Mashonaland West provinces from October 1.
He said the JSC was implementing the digitisation of court processes in phases and would start with the two provinces.
Chikwana said training of relevant staff and stakeholders would continue until the launch in October.
