In every walk of life, there is something that distinguishes one from another. Whether you are a public servant or working for a non-profit organization, the certain identity of your profession or what organization or agency you work for is revealed when you are donned in the appropriate apparel; a uniform.

The most common people nowadays we see in uniforms are police men and women, armed forces and health workers mainly doctors and nurses.

Even though they provide some significant services to the country, there are a particular group of people who of course are none other than village court officials.

Most of our village court officials; magistrates, clerks and peace officers in the country have gone by delivering “naked” backyard justice delivery.

Naked in the sense that overtime, the VCO’s performed their duties untethered and at the same time with no official form of wear to identify them for who they are.

It is common in our country when a uniformed police man speaks, there is no reservation of respect which comes freely from citizens. The same alike for armed forces.

However, they are not the only law enforcing workers as unlike other law enforcing bodies, magistrates, clerks and peace officer work at the community level but as most admit, it is a problem to identify them while on duty without a uniform.

Uniforms help them stand out of the crowd so that they can be easily recognizable and also distinguish them for the service they do.

These uniforms not only make them feel proud but also have an imposing effect on others as the presence of a person in uniform can change the mood and demeanour of people around them.

It is still unclear whether other VCO’s of other provinces don their VCO’s with uniforms but EHP surely set an example last Friday when the VCO’s of some of the eight district received their new uniforms.

Thanks to the Eastern Highlands Provincial Village Court Coordinator Mr Kiuan Sireh and administrative officer Agatha Walep who on behalf of the EHP Village Court Commission delivered the long awaited uniforms.

By late this week, the 1434 Village Court Officials of EHP will have become proud recipients of new uniforms distinctly tailored to identify a magistrate, clerk and peace officerwhen the remaining VCO’s from the other districts come in to receive what is rightfully theirs.

Out of the 1434 number of VCO’s, there are 570 magistrates, 535 peace officers and 107 village court clerks in EHP alone, and they have faithfully delivered justice to their village courts humbly while donned in regular clothes.

Of the 1434 VCO’s in EHP, 116 of them are women VCO’s, 107 of them are women magistrates and 9 are village court clerks.

Most of the VCO’s-even women- agreed that in times of dispute it was hard to go by as some of the disputants throw in a hand or two during times of heated arguments.

Some of the VCO’s included women who reinforced the stories of receiving a punch or slap when trying to stop disputes because they were not recognized for their profession.

Now the magistrates of EHP village court will be donned in brown, the peace officers in sky blue and the village court clerks in light green.

With hope, the newly distributed uniforms will boost their morale and encourage them to keep on with their important service delivery.

Amanda Kundil