|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…
|
Dr. Jenfan Muswere, the Minister of Information Communication Technology (ICT), Postal and Courier Services told a gathering of judges who attended an ICT training workshop in Harare to use the knowledge gained for fair justice delivery.
The workshop came at an opportune time when the importance of ICTs becomes more apparent particularly due to the COVID-19 pandemic where we are seeing the rapid growth of teleworking and high demand for digital solutions in the economy, including for the judiciary services.
ICTs are very relevant to the judiciary system as the technologies facilitate the delivery of legal services to the communities, in a world that is undergoing immense technological change. The Judiciary is being called upon to deliver services against a backdrop of immense challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Government, through the National Development Strategy (NDS1) that was launched by the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, His Excellency Dr. E.D. Mnangagwa in November last year, has identified a digital economy as one of the key priorities leading to a digitally enabled society. This training workshop, therefore, dovetails with the aspirations of the Government in its quest to have a digitally literate population in the journey to becoming an upper-middle-income society by the year 2030. The National Development Strategy also identifies Human Capital Development as a key driver for the country’s prospects towards Vision 2030. The focus of Human Capital Development is on creating a knowledge-driven economy for sustained growth and modernisation of Zimbabwe.
“In their pervasive nature, ICTs are therefore transforming all sectors of the economy and have become the cornerstone for increased productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness across all sectors. For the Judiciary services, it is incumbent that at this particular time when you are implementing the Case Management System all the Judges and other staff are trained in ICTs in order to effectively use the system. The system will be a useful tool for text creation, storage, and retrieval of information, improved access to the law, recording of court proceedings, management of judiciary administrative systems, and communication among other areas. The modernisation of the courts through the introduction of this e-justice system will certainly enhance the efficiencies within the judiciary ecosystem,” Minister Muswere said.
The Minister was confident that the skills that the judges gained will definitely be useful as they discharge their duties in this world of immense technological advancements.
He said the judges were torchbearers and that their participation in the ICT programme was a testimony of the value that they assign to the development of the country.