Beneficiaries are actors too.pdf - Southern Institute of Peace ...

process of reporting a case is too bureaucratic and the process to
assess a case is too winding resulting in long winding court
sessions.
Another challenge is that the concept of unhu on which the
traditional court system is heavily inclined is not standard in
every individual presiding either as a chief or an elder. There are
some chiefs whose unhu (personality) is as bad as criminals
themselves whose integrity and credibility has been eroded by
their bad behaviour. The selection of the chief's advisors on the
basis of eloquence of speech and intelligence is not a convincing
instrument, because being eloquent does not mean one is
knowledgeable about the court procedures.
The other challenge is that the court session may pass a sentence
basing on mistakes which may arise due to failure to understand
a case, false accusation, irrelevant conclusions and/or
generalizations (Gwaravanda, 2011). An example of a person who
loses a case against an adulterous wife due to lack of evidence and
eye witnesses can best explain this limitation. Less experienced
panellists may be confused by the eloquence of the offender in an
attempt to avoid punishment. At times clarity and soundness of
argument are undermined by the less experienced panellists.
The traditional court system has no mechanism to follow up on
those criminals who boycott traditional courts; as a result, many
offenders go freely without being tried. The chief's messengers
who are expected to make a follow up on those who boycott the
traditional court are sometimes ineffective because they lack
mechanisms to enforce their commands. They may fail to locate a
criminal who would have gone to another town because of the
financial expenses that are involved in making such follow ups.
Chief Mazano pointed out that tradition is being eroded by
diffusion of culture. The present generation has since stopped
valuing their culture because they consider it archaic and
backward. Formal courts are more preferable to the younger
generation than traditional courts. This research has uncovered a
rift between the aspect of Unhuism /Ubuntuism that culture
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