RUTANA March 13th (ABP) – The new court of appeal of Makamba (south) and its court were from Monday 25th February until Friday 8th March 2019 traveling in Rutana province (south-east) to judge on the site the cases submitted to them. The aim was not only of helping the plaintiffs by lightening the burden of travel, but also of controlling, inspecting and supervising the workers of the court and the prisons of Rutana, a check by ABP revealed.
According to the prosecutor general close to the court, Mr. Fidèle Nyabenda, the purpose of that field trip was to avoid expensive travel for plaintiffs for their cases to be judged very close to them and their witnesses. The other purpose was not only to try many more cases in a relatively short time, but also to rehabilitate the irregular cases that were being forgotten and set them in court. In the matter of judging a lot of cases in a relatively short time, the chief of the Court of Appeal of Makamba, Ms. Pascaline Habonimana, said that in those two weeks spent in Rutana, out of 115 land cases in Judge, 72 were completed and put under advisement, while 13 require to go to the field and be able to judge on the spot. Four other cases were found to be impossible to reach because of insufficient evidence that plaintiffs must include in those cases that have been put under pending. 27 cases that could not be judged were set for March 12 and 19, because the elements to include in those cases were specified to plaintiffs. But to that fact, those plaintiffs will have to go to Makamba.
Regarding the problems encountered during the trip, Ms. Habonimana said that some plaintiffs play the game of procrastination, so that some cases drag on, because when asked where their witnesses are, they say that they did not bring them, unnecessarily dragging the proceedings. But that does not matter, the chief of the court of appeal said. The latter is aware that there are plaintiffs who do not want their cases to end for fear of the issues to their detriment. For those people, they have been given close appointments to stop it.
Asked about the means used for their livelihood during those two weeks spent in Rutana, Ms. Habonimana said that they came from some people with good faith, without specifying whether they were individuals or institutions that gave those means. She noted that apart from the vehicle and fuel that are State-owned, no other funding has been requested from the State. But according to a reliable source of the team from Makamba, those means were given by the courts of residence of the Rutana constituency after agreement. Ten people in total were members of the team, namely three judges including the chief of the court of appeal and two clerks, three magistrates, a scribe of the general court as well as a driver.