WINDHOEK – Lawyers have turned clients into cash cows, and there is a dire need for laws to be amended to protect clients from being robbed by lawyers, said Swapo Member of Parliament and Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Tjekero Tweya in support of the proposed amendment bill to the Magistrate Court Act.
The bill gives powers to the assistant magistrate appointed under the future amended act, to act in the absence of the magistrate to decide whether or not to postpone cases.
Speaking during a debate in the National Assembly this week, Tweya said lawyers in Namibia have turned clients into cash cows by making cases drag on in court for them to make a killing from legal fees. “Lawyers drag out cases for as long as they can to make as much money as they can, “ Tweya said, adding that this has become a burden for the government as well, as the accused then have to be kept in jail as trial-awaiting prisoners for a long time.
“The government is spending more and more money to keep offenders in cells while other are benefiting,“ he said, adding that people cannot be allowed to become cash cows and it is the duty of MPs to speak on behalf of the voiceless.
Supporting him was the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Loide Kasingo, who opined that there is a serious need for an intervention in the said law and it was long overdue. “These cases take way too long, especially divorce cases,” she said.
On Monday the Minister of Justice Utoni Nujoma tabled the amendment to the Magistrate Court Act that would give more power to the assistant magistrate who, in the absence of a magistrate, would preside over a court of a district or sub-district.
By Kuzeeko Tjitemisa