By Elias Mhegera
LEGAL assistance is a basic human right which many Tanzanians are still denied. Many lack access to information and are ignorant of their legal system.
These contentions were made of by the Tanganyika Law Society (TLS) vice chairman Advocate Ibrahim Bendera during the Legal Aid Day on Saturday last weak.
He said it was due to this reason that his association and the legal fraternity in this country in general chose to return to the society what they accrued in the form of knowledge.
“There are essential elements which lead to the denial of services to the less advantaged, lack of legal institutions for empowerment and assistance, and Legal Aid Policy (LAP),” he said.
He said it was due to this reason that the TLS has determined to help in making access to justice a reality at the community level. This is by focusing on access to legal services, as well as legal and human rights awareness.
He elaborated that his organization has so far established centres in Dodoma
He however lauded some legal bodies like TAWLA, The Women's Legal Aid Centre (WLAC), NOLA and the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) which have been assisting those who can not afford to pay the legal counsels.
Dr Sengondo Mvungi of The University of Bagamoyo, who is a human rights lawyer, says that the biggest challenge in the legal sector is building the capacity of civil society and communities to understand and demand their rights.
Mvungi concurs with Bendera on saying that legal service is a human right; therefore people should demand this right from their government. From there they can then open up channels of constructive engagement between government and civil society and the judiciary.
The don says legal service is essential and vital because it cuts across the main concerns of people, namely economic, social and commercial these are the main concerns usually presented in the judiciary in order for justice to prevail.
As long as people struggle daily to earn a basic living they are prone to enter into conflicts. Thus the most affected in these conflicts are women, children and people with disabilities particularly in the village and other marginalized groups.
“Due to scarcity of resources people always finds themselves in conflicts, everyone is striving to make their children earn adequate education, live safely and peacefully and have enough food and drink for each day,
“if these are not realized they will tend to reflect themselves in the institutions dealing with the provision of justice.” He remarked.
Onesmo Olengurwa a researcher in law at the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) says there is a need of a big support for legal aid systems possibly involving NGOs, like legal aid centres in order to take care of the marginalized for example reduction or exemption of tax.
END
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