Gabriel proud to be a village court magistrate

People

By KELVIN JOE
GABRIEL Kepas decided to become a village court magistrate because he wanted to deal with law and order problems in where he lives.
He has been one for the past 32 years and reckons it is a noble and important profession which has been often ignored and looked down on.
He became a village court official in Central’s Kairuku-Hiri district when the village court system was set up after independence in 1975.
He has since been focusing on maintaining law and order, addressing social problems in the Koairi and Trans-Vanapa Brown local level governments.
“Law and order issues are a big problem which affect everyone. They can only be improved if addressed at the village level.”
Gabriel, 59, completed Grade 10 at Laloki High School (now Secondary School) in 1978. He lives at Laloki village in Kairuku-Hiri district, Central with his family.
He is today the Laloki village court chairman dealing with issues in the 13 council wards in Trans-Vanapa Brown and neighboring Koairi.
Gabriel served as the Hiri Ward 14 councilor in 1997 to 2007 while carrying out the role of magistrate.
As a ward councilor, Gabriel was vocal in having a separate LLG president for Trans-Vanapa Brown, which covered a large part of the district.
“I was always pushing for Vanapa Brown to have its own council president, because out of the 16 council ward areas, Hiri-East and Hiri-West had a president while the inland was left out.
“I voiced the concern to have the new president so that service delivery could be distributed equally in the district. Through the support of local leaders, we now have the new Trans-Vanapa Brown LLG established in the last election.”

“ Law and order issues are a big problem which affect everyone. They can only be improved if addressed at the village level.”

He works with ward councilors from lower Koairi and Trans-Vanapa Brown LLGs to set up a law and order committee to address drug and alcohol abuse, and ensure the safety and security of women and children.
The Laloki village court has been dealing with law and order issues from Koairi to Trans-Vanapa Brown.
“We have been trying our best to cut down the cases of domestic violence, community unrest and other social problems over the years.”
Gabriel made a lot of sacrifice with the limited resources available to him to ensure law and order is maintained.
“When there is a conflict, we make it a priority to find the root cause of the problem and solve it to avoid unrest.
“We are going to have a peaceful community and see infrastructure development if law and order is maintained in the community.”
Gabriel is aware of the many accolades from various quarters on the importance of village courts in the justice system.
He only hopes that this is translated into proper support in terms of resources for village magistrates, peace and order committees and ward councilors to carry out their work effectively.
Gabriel is willing to continue serving his people as a village magistrate with pride. He has been doing it for 32 years now.