DEMYSTIFYING THE REALM OF LEGAL AID IN ZIMBABWE

Most Zimbabweans, when it comes to insurance, do not look at the whole spectrum the industry has to offer. What they are interested in is to get the general policies like the funeral and medical insurance. Of course it is inevitable to escape the jaws of either death or illness, that is why they tend to grab such policies like these two which have been around for eons.
Getting to my issue was very ecstatic when l learnt, during a social talk with my undergraduate friends, about a policy which l never thought would prevail here in Zimbabwe, a legal aid policy. As l grew up,l only knew about this kind of insurance from the movies and advertisements produced from the most developed countries such as the U.S.A,then l heard it from the nation down under, South Africa, about a decade ago. l was flummoxed by the depth of knowledge which my fellow Zimbabweans have towards such an insurance policy.
Who knew it will also prevail in our own Zimbabwe. Come on people, your own lawyer and your own legal advisor. It’s not like l am some kind of a delinquent but knowing that everyday l drive through a roadblock and get accused by some ambivalent traffic police will proudly speak to them with seething vive,”DONT TALK TO ME,TALK TO MY LAWYER”. This old cliché, got zinging in my head so l thought to venture into the legal aid insurance. It was with great reluctance that l set off alone into the industry. My reason for said reluctance was twofold;One,l did not know the hours l was going to endure getting a full insight of this policy and two;l thought finding these policy insurance companies will be easy without a roadmap. Sometime ago l paid two legal aid societies a visit, Wise Owl Legal Aid Society(WOLAS) and UZ Legal just to get an insight about these legal aid services. My first stop was at WOLAS .l must say the first impression was great, For only $10 per month you can cover your children and yourself. The biggest question which l had in mind is, okay ladies and gentlemen, consulting a lawyer may cost $80 an hour then maybe defending you in the court of law may cost about $400 depending on the nature of the case, so how is the $10 going to cater for all the expenditure. So l spoke to some guy to get some knowledge about this unsought insurance product which a very few know about. After a long talk we just reached a consensus that if a medical aid can cover you on operations, why will the legal aid not cater for cases such as murder, theft and other litigations.
With the endless number of cases going into the courts each and everyday, do these crime offenders and the offended ones have legal aid cover or they have to grudgingly fork out large sums of money to afford lawyers. Most people are earning below the poverty datum line so if they happen to go to the courts, their pockets are being outweighed if they don’t have this legal cover and would be forced to scrummage around in the bottom of your wallets.
As a student attached to Chinhoyi University of Technology l have seen so many scenarios which you could just use a lawyer, a lawyer which you can afford, something which does not outweigh your pocket and also affordable to almost every Zimbabwean, from unpaid labour and the very important note to us as students who reside outside campus of lease contracts. Landlords can unfairly dismiss you without giving you such notice because they may have found someone who is willing to pay more. Come on students, let us not be deprived of our rights.
Of course there are lawyers who represent people deprived of their human rights for free but don’t bet on them that they will stand for you when you commit murder,theftand divorce. That is why such legal cover is important.
At the present moment, l am aware that scores of Zimbabweans are not aware of such insurance policy and this is a wake up call for those who might need a lawyer, maybe in property buying and will writing .Who knows when bogus sellers approach you, so its better to be covered with such policies like these and l assure you, having a wider range of insurance policies in your pocket, you will be so proudly green that the ozone layer will be ululating.

Shingirai kanhongo is a student at Chinhoyi University of Technology doing a BTech Hons Degree in International Marketing