Magistrates cannot afford 3 meals a day

onday, Masvingo provincial magistrate Enias Magate urged government to pay judicial officers competitive rates.
This need not necessarily be at private sector rates, he said, but competitive enough to make these officers respectable, not the laughing stock of society.
“Corruption is destructive to the justice system, just as cancer is to a person’s health,” Magate said. “Money corrupts and the offer of money and gratification to a judicial officer pollutes and destroys the whole justice machinery. In our country corruption has spread with frightening proportions.”
He said competitive salaries coupled with the provision of cars and houses would go a long way in making magistrates less prone to accepting bribes. He said government could build houses for judicial officers whose positions make them susceptible to corruption.
“The quality of a magistrate is seen in the manner he presides over a case in court and his or her conduct outside the courtroom,” Magate said. “Your conduct outside the courtroom plays a fundamental role in the manner the public regard the office of a magistrate. It makes or breaks the integrity of your office. You will scandalise the office if you are seen in the company of criminal, by being seen in places well known for criminal activities and by behaving in a manner.”
Masvingo area prosecutor, Mirirai Shumba slammed poor working conditions which she said has caused an unprecedented staff turnover.
Many magistrates could not afford three basic meals a day, said Magate, who is also the head of the Zimbabwean magistrates’ association.
He said many magistrates were forced to hitchhike to court or travel on crowded buses with defendants they would later see in court.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa warned magistrates not to take bribes. Several magistrates have been taken to court on corruption charges. But Chinamasa said that being poor could not justify accepting bribes.
Most magistrates are paid less than $50,000 a month.