Eastern Zone DCSA

Figure 29: Respondents’ usage of courts
Figure 30: Respondents’ usage of courts (by gender)
When the data on usage of courts was analysed along gender lines,
no significant skew in the usage of courts was observed, meaning
that as few women reported using courts for an issue of justice in
the last year as men (Fig 30).
The research revealed that simple cases were mostly taken to
Traditional elders or any other perceived alternative justice provider
to avoid costs (file opening fees, transport, lawyers fee) attached to
the usage of the formal justice system 42 . Business group discussion
participants argued that in the formal justice system, justice is for
sale and decisions are awarded to those who can afford them 43 .
42 Religious leader, Key Informant Interview, Eastern Zone, 23 March 2014
43 Business Group, Focus Group Discussion, Eastern Zone, 3 March 2014
A larger proportion of the respondents interviewed in the
household survey (16%) had used traditional elders for an issue of
justice in the past year (Fig 31).There were no significant gender
differences in usage of traditional elders (Fig 32). Qualitative
findings, however, revealed that traditional elders were mostly
referred to in small-scale and less contentious disputes which
needed mediation, but serious disputes, such as land disputes were
demonstrably taken to the formal courts since these institutions
possess the authority of enforcement. The chairperson of the
Regional Court confirmed that most of the civil cases referred to the
court had been related to land disputes “you can see a plot of land
disputed by 5 people with different land ownership documents,
22