via Prosecutors working under squalid conditions: NPA – NewsDay Zimbabwe July 9, 2015
SOME staffers in the Office of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) are working in squalid conditions with little or no office space to operate from, the authority’s acting corporate affairs manager Allen Chifokoyo said on Wednesday.
RICHARD CHIDZA
Chifokoyo told journalists at a three-day strategic workshop to shape the NPA’s policy direction for the next five years that the board had come face-to-face with the difficult conditions prosecutors were operating under during a countrywide tour of all courthouses.
“The board realised that some prosecutors are working in deplorable conditions. That is, among other things, the reason for this meeting from which we are seeking to come up with answers to such issues,” Chifokoyo said.
“It is a meeting to carry out a comprehensive situational analysis of the NPA which will provide the necessary insights and understanding of the institution’s current operations and organisational structure, information technology and infrastructure.”
While not directly admitting the existence of corruption among the country’s State law officers, Chifokoyo said the NPA “frowns at graft”.
“We take the issue of corruption very seriously both in society and by members of the NPA. We are, therefore, working on ways to combat this cancer. The Prosecutor-General (Johannes Tomana) does not condone corruption and in his opening remarks to this strategic workshop said it is an evil that should be destroyed,” he said.
“At the conclusion of this meeting, we are going to come up with strategies that will transform the NPA into an effective institution that dispenses justice to all citizens without fear, favour or bias.”
According to Chifokoyo, the workshop also heard that the NPA was grossly understaffed and was seeking assistance from all stakeholders to make sure “our courts are adequately staffed by qualified personnel”.
Asked if he was confirming allegations that police prosecutors were not qualified, Chifokoyo refused to comment.
“We are still awaiting the ruling of the Constitutional Court and thus the matter remains sub-judice (before the court). I am just emphasising that our courts are woefully understaffed and we need to make sure the staff seconded to these are qualified enough to provide the best service to citizens,” he said.
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