President establishes anti-trafficking committee

Farirai Machivenyika Senior Reporter
President Mugabe has established the Anti-Trafficking Inter-Ministerial Committee in line with provisions of the Trafficking in Persons Act that was passed by Parliament in June last year.

The committee was officially constituted last Friday according to Statutory Instrument 2 published in the Government Gazette.

“His Excellency the President in terms of section 1 (2) of the Trafficking in Persons Act hereby makes the following notice; This notice may be cited as the Establishment and Functions of the Anti-Trafficking Inter-Ministerial Committee, Notice, 2015.

“It is hereby declared that the 9th of January, 2015, shall be the date of the establishment of the Anti-Trafficking Inter-Ministerial Committee,” reads the Statutory Instrument.

The committee comprises senior members drawn from the Ministry of Home Affairs who will be the chairperson and others drawn the Ministries of Labour and Social Welfare; Gender, Women Affairs and Community Development; Health and Child Care; Information, Media and Broadcasting Services; Local Government, Public Works and National Housing and Foreign Affairs.

The committee was tasked with formulating and implementing a plan of action against trafficking in persons.

The Trafficking in Persons Act was enacted to fulfil Zimbabwe’s obligations under the United Nations Convention against Organised Transnational Crime and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons.

Apart from creating the crime of trafficking in persons, the law also establishes instances in which it is committed in aggravating circumstances and these include if the trafficked person is a child or is disabled, or if the crime is committed by an organised group or if the victim dies, becomes mentally unstable, is mutilated or becomes infected with HIV and Aids or other sexually transmitted diseases.

The law also empowers law enforcement agents, among them the police, and customs and immigration officials to detain, question and search persons entering or leaving Zimbabwe and seize any property if they suspect that a crime of human trafficking has been or is about to be committed.