Village court pay rise sought

JIWAKA village court inspector Joseph Opo has called on the government to increase the monthly allowances of village court officials.
Opo said the monthly payments of K460 for the village court chairman, K430 for the deputy village court chairmen and K375 for officials were insufficient considering the amount of work they did.
Opo said the village court was the fourth-tier arm of the judiciary but its officials were getting far less then magistrates and judges.
He said without village court officials, there would be no peace and harmony in the communities.
Opo called on Minister for Justice and Attorney-General Davis Steven to make a submission to Cabinet to review the remuneration structures of village court officials.
“Village court officials deal with 80 per cent of the cases at the village level and they are in the front line to restore peace and harmony,” he said.
“They deserve better treatment for the hard work they are dealing with every day.”
Opo also called on the government to properly compensate those who retire.
“Many village court officials have not been properly recognised or never been compensated. They leave without being acknowledged,” he said.
“They have served tirelessly all their lives and have to be recognised with better entitlements.
“Some died without any form of recognition for the long service to the country.”