NEARLY 500,000 people from seven regions have resolved various legal disputes they encountered through the Samia Legal Aid Campaign since April last year.

Esther Msambazi, the Constitutional and Legal Affairs acting director for legal aid services, announced this achievement at the 48th Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF 2024) over the weekend.

She said that among conflicts heard and resolved through the free legal campaign it is land conflicts that were most pronounced, explaining that some of the disputes resolved in the campaign arose from legal aid advice.

People need to be educated on legal issues when they have to present it in court, connecting them with lawyers, preparing documents and other services that need to be resolved legally, he said.

"Therefore, the ministry saw the importance of bringing this national legal aid campaign in this trade fair due to its importance in solving conflicts among the people, and this legal aid is provided for free," the director affirmed.

“So we’re here to join other stakeholders to ensure that people do not miss any legal services while in trade fair grounds, so if someone has a problem s/he wants it to be sorted out legally, they should use this opportunity,” she said, elaborating that the pavilion will be there until the end of the fair to ensure that officials reach many people and no one is left behind.

Aspects in which a lawyer can help a person after arriving in campaign offices include documents to open proceedings in court, to request civil administration of inheritance, litigation, child care, adoption of children and other legal issues where documents need to be presented in court.

There are contracts that a person can be helped to write, and similar needs that ordinary people cannot carry out and they have to pay a lawyer, she said, pointing out that since the trade fair started on June 28 the response of people who come to the pavilion for help in dispute resolution requiring legal assistance has been extensive. 

"There are many people who came to us since we arrived here,” she stated, asserting that this shows that legal aid services have come at the right time. “People have information about this free legal campaign, so as time goes by the number of people who come here is increasing," she elaborated

The Samia Legal Aid Campaign was introduced in April last year starting with Dodoma Region, then extended to Manyara, Singida, Simiyu, Shinyanga, Njombe, and Ruvuma regions, she added.