Trust Freddy-Herald Correspondent
PROSECUTOR-GENERAL Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo has ordered a 100 percent completion rate for rape cases after revealing that 3 151 of the 3 678 such cases received in the first nine months of the year involved minors.
Speaking at the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe (NPAZ) Strategic Planning Review Workshop in Mutare on Monday, she said the scale of sexual violence against children left the authority with no room for delays.
“You must come up with strategies to achieve a 100 percent completion rate across both categories. We owe our communities nothing less,” she said, referring to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) and drug cases.
In total, the authority received 9 020 SGBV cases between January and September 2026.
It secured 5 116 convictions, while 2 144 cases are still pending.
Justice Matanda-Moyo said the high proportion of child victims — 85,7 percent of all rape cases required urgent action on the quality of investigations, sufficiency of evidence, victim support and trial readiness.
She said child survivors must be handled with utmost sensitivity, strict confidentiality and trauma-informed care.
She also directed prosecutors to deepen cooperation with police, medical professionals and social service providers to secure airtight forensic evidence and protect witnesses from secondary trauma.
Justice Matanda-Moyo said SGBV and drug crimes were escalating threats to Zimbabwe’s social fabric.
“Both SGBV and drug crimes are escalating threats to our social fabric, the tide must be stemmed urgently,” she said.
The workshop is reviewing the first year of the NPAZ 2026-2030 Strategic Plan.
Overall, the Authority handled 89 917 cases in the first nine months of 2026 and completed 71 987 — an 80 percent clearance rate against an annual target of 100 000.
Justice Matanda-Moyo also set a 99 percent performance target for all public prosecutors in 2027.
