Court administration takes fast lane at Swakopmund

By: ADAM HARTMAN

THE entry and retrieval of information vital to court cases, as well as financial transactions through the court system at Swakopmund, will be done much faster now with the implementation of the Namibian Court Information System (Namcis).

The system was launched at Swakopmund on Wednesday by the Deputy

Minister of Justice, Utoni Nujoma.

"The objective of Namcis is to provide support for the

automation of routine administrative work, leading to a decrease in

daily operational costs and consolidation of vital information," he

said.

 

According to Eileen Rakow, Namcis Project Manager for the

Ministry of Justice, it is one of the longest-running projects in

the ministry and allows for the computerisation of court

administration and accounting.

 

She said a successful pilot project was launched at the Windhoek

Magistrate's Court in August last year.

 

"The Swakopmund implementation, which started this month, will

roll out more functionality than the Windhoek system," she

said.

 

Nujoma said since the system was introduced in Windhoek, there

had been great improvements in efficiency.

 

He said before the implementation of Namcis, only a limited

number of traffic fines could be processed daily.

 

After the implementation, about 200 traffic cases a day are

processed.

 

"Namcis has made it much easier to obtain relevant statistics

which in the past proved challenging," said Nujoma.

 

"My wish is to see a faster implementation of Namcis elsewhere

in Namibia."

 

Justice Permanent Secretary Steve Katjiuanjo said Namcis would

be rolled out in Erongo's other magistrate's offices in due

course.

 

The Walvis Bay Magistrate's Court would be last in line because

of a backlog in record reconciliation dating back to 1992.

 

The Ministry hopes to roll out Namcis across the country within

the next three years.

 

"The objective of Namcis is to provide support for the automation

of routine administrative work, leading to a decrease in daily

operational costs and consolidation of vital information," he

said.According to Eileen Rakow, Namcis Project Manager for the

Ministry of Justice, it is one of the longest-running projects in

the ministry and allows for the computerisation of court

administration and accounting.She said a successful pilot project

was launched at the Windhoek Magistrate's Court in August last

year."The Swakopmund implementation, which started this month, will

roll out more functionality than the Windhoek system," she

said.Nujoma said since the system was introduced in Windhoek, there

had been great improvements in efficiency.He said before the

implementation of Namcis, only a limited number of traffic fines

could be processed daily.After the implementation, about 200

traffic cases a day are processed."Namcis has made it much easier

to obtain relevant statistics which in the past proved

challenging," said Nujoma."My wish is to see a faster

implementation of Namcis elsewhere in Namibia."Justice Permanent

Secretary Steve Katjiuanjo said Namcis would be rolled out in

Erongo's other magistrate's offices in due course.The Walvis Bay

Magistrate's Court would be last in line because of a backlog in

record reconciliation dating back to 1992.The Ministry hopes to

roll out Namcis across the country within the next three years.

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