By KETRA KALUNGA
ZIALE needs a complete overhaul, what is happening at the institution is a blow to the criminal justice system, it needs to be revisited, the Prisons Care and Counselling Association (PRISCA) has said.
PRISCA Executive Director Godfrey Malembela said the government should dissolve the board at ZIALE and start afresh because there is no way law students could be failing in such a manner.
Dr. Malembeka said in an interview that there is a big problem at ZIALE either with the curriculum or the personnel because what is happening at the institution is abnormal and should be revisited as soon as possible.
“We just need an overhaul, changing, revising what is happening there at ZIALE, there is no way people can be failing like that, there is no way we can accept such results, there is a big problem either with the curriculum or maybe with the personnel,” he said.
He said as PRISCA they are disappointed with the low pass rate at ZIALE because lawyers are very critical in the dispensation of criminal justice.
Dr. Malembeka said lawyers are very important as they contribute to the decongestion strategy of correctional facilities because of pro bono “the public good.”
He is of the view that the perpetual poor passing rate at ZIALE would definitely contribute to the backlog of cases and congest further correctional facilities in the country.
“We are very disappointed and all incarcerated people are disappointed, our hope was getting more lawyers and allowing them to become members of the bench because we have a centralised criminal justice system where we have law firms along the line of rail,” he said.
Only one student passed ZIALE bar examinations out of 400, a poor passing rate that has received a lot of criticism from various stakeholders.
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