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Blessings Chidakwa Herald Reporter
The inter-agency stakeholders in the criminal justice delivery chain have come up with a new inclusive system that receives dockets for recording, perusing and making recommendations if there is concrete evidence for prosecution and conviction.
As such, prosecution of cases is now being done swiftly through the efficiency-driven system that ensures a symbiotic working relationship between the players and results in the decisive handling of cases.
Previously, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) would blame the Prosecutor General’s Office for not prosecuting cases.
On its part, the Prosecutor General’s Office would blame ZACC for forwarding wishy-washy cases.
The police on the other hand would blame both ZACC and the PG’s Office for failing to prosecute cases timeously, and the cycle of blame games would continue.
Now, an inter-agencies unit, that consists of ZACC, the National Prosecuting Authority, the Reserve Bank’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, the police and the President’s Department, has been set up.
In an interview, Prosecutor-General Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo said the cogs in the justice delivery wheel are now working in tandem, under a new unit.
PG Matanda-Moyo said the interagency unit is meant to ensure that all matters are dealt with on a first-case-in, first-case-out basis.
“So as soon as the docket is received, whether from ZACC or the police, it’s then recorded into our system and it is perused. If we agree that the evidence is intact, then the matter proceeds for set down, and then it is given a trial date. So, at the moment, matters are proceeding well.”
She said the previous blame game between inter-agencies is now a thing of the past.
“We do have a platform, which is called Interagency, where all players in the criminal justice delivery system are represented. That is where we air our grievances and they are solved.
“So, we make sure that once investigations are finalised, then that matter proceeds to trial. But remember, we are not only prosecuting corruption cases, we are prosecuting other criminal offences,” she said.
PG Matanda-Moyo said cases like rape, attempted murder and murder, are all prosecuted by the NPA.
She said a lot of cases have been finalised, with Midlands being the only province with a backlog. “There are a lot of murder cases happening in the Midlands, as you are aware we do not have a permanent High Court yet in the Midlands Province, but that is work in progress.”
“We do hope that we are going to have a permanent High Court in the Midlands Province soon, but we do have a good relationship with the other players in the criminal justice delivery system,” she said.
PG Matanda-Moyo said the aim is to clear the Midlands High Court backlog cases before year-end.
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