daniel chigunwe
Trust Freddy
Herald Correspondent
More than 900 out of the 1 018 cases of wildlife crimes received by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) last year were completed, with more than half the prosecutions involving unlawful hunting, Prosecutor General Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo said yesterday.
Masvingo and Mashonaland West had the most wildlife cases, with both provinces reporting 326 cases each. Mashonaland East had the least with seven, Mashonaland Central the second lowest with 26. Training for prosecutors in wildlife law continues. Speaking yesterday during a certificate presentation and prize-giving ceremony for the 23 prosecutors trained by the Tikki Hywood Foundation in wildlife law, Justice Matanda-Moyo said 88 percent of cases received from investigating authorities were completed.
“50 percent of the cases were unlawful hunting cases or trapping of animals, while the rest were mostly possession of unmarked ivory, possession of live pangolins and unlawful possession of trophies. The skin of the python seems to be a favourite for many.”
Justice Matanda-Moyo attributed the remarkable progress in prosecutions to the ongoing training in wildlife law.
“The training is paying off. This is a significant improvement from the previous year. The statistics are an indicator that prosecutors are better placed to secure higher conviction rates when they have sound knowledge of the crime in question. We hope that this trajectory will continue in 2024 and we get a 100 percent conviction rate.”
She once again brought up her stress that crime should not only involve criminal punishment, but that it must not be allowed to pay through forfeiture of illicit gains.
“We are hopeful that we will soon be making applications for the seizure of tainted property that is connected to wildlife crimes as we have directed the police to conduct parallel investigations so that we pursue these cases through civil-based forfeiture.
“Currently we are relying on criminal base forfeiture, when accused persons are convicted we pray to the courts to order the criminals to pay restitution”.
CEO and founder of the Tikki Hywood Foundation Lisa Hywood reiterated her organisation’s commitment to fighting wildlife crimes.
“This successful partnership has yielded initiatives such as the latest wildlife crime training for the public prosecutors, which we believe will lead to effective prosecution in many wildlife crime cases to come.”
Online Reporter