Herald Reporter
GOVERNMENT has commended the Zimbabwe Independent Complaints Commission’s work ethic after it concluded 36 cases from the 48 that it received in 2025, barely a year from its inception.
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said the Commission should step up efforts to decentralise its operations from Harare to other remote areas in line with President Mnangagwa mantra of living no one and no place behind.
The Commission is a constitutional body constituted to receive, investigate complaints from members of the public on members of the security services.
Minister Ziyambi said this yesterday in a speech read on his behalf by his deputy, Nobert Mazungunye, during a ZICC Stakeholder Consultative Engagement strategic planning workshop where it also tabled its annual report.
“In its founding operational year, the Commission received 48 complaints and concluded 36 of them, a resolution rate of 78 percent against its own target of 75 percent. The remaining 12 are complex matters that cut across more than one institution. It carried out all 16 of its planned strategic stakeholder engagements, developed 10 governance policies against a target of eight, and conducted 20 public awareness campaigns,” said Minister Ziyambi.
He noted that the majority of cases handled were related to the Police by virtue of the fact that law enforcement agencies primarily deal with members of the public unlike other security establishments.
“At least 77 percent of complaints concerned the Zimbabwe Republic Police. The report rightly explains that this reflects the fact that the police are the service citizens meet most often in daily life, it is not a finding that the police conduct themselves worse than others. The Commission draws the correct conclusion: these figures tell us where the Commission is present, not where misconduct is absent,” said Minister Ziyambi.
He said it was critical that deliberate efforts be taken to ensure that it’s services were devolved around the country.
“A constitutional remedy that can be reached only in the capital is not yet fully available to every citizen. Taking the Commission to the provinces is therefore not an administrative preference. It is how section 210 reaches the whole country,” Minister Ziyambi said.
He noted that the Commission worked through 2025 with 31 of its 143 approved posts showing a human capital deficit.
The Minister commended ZICC for highlighting its resource constraints in its annual report.
“I welcome this candour. A report that conceals difficulty helps no one. A report that states it plainly allows Government and Parliament to respond.”
Minister Ziyambi said as Government, they have heard their challenges and were addressing them.
“Government has listened, and Government is responding. From 2026 the Commission is funded under its own Vote in the national budget, rather than as a sub-programme within the Office of the President and Cabinet. Treasury has also approved the recruitment of additional posts. These are meaningful steps. I do not pretend that they close every gap, and Government remains committed to resourcing the Commission progressively, within the fiscal framework and in line with its constitutional obligations,” said Minister Ziyambi.
“On the legal framework, I am pleased to confirm that the ZICC regulations, which the report records as pending, have since been approved. The task now is to apply the regulations consistently and to make them known to the services and to the public”.
He challenged legislators to take an active role on the Commission’s report and help it in lobbying for resources.
“I encourage the relevant Portfolio Committees to examine it, to hold the Commission to its targets, and, with equal seriousness, to consider its resource needs when the budget comes before the House. Oversight of the overseer is part of a healthy constitutional system,” said Minister Ziyambi
ZICC chairperson Justice Webster Chinamora said it was critical for both members of the public and security services to be protected by the law.
“No uniform places anyone beyond the law, and no citizen is denied its protection because of vulnerability or distance from the capital. Credible oversight protects the public from misconduct and protects the honourable officer from unfounded allegation,” said Justice Chinamora.
“The great majority of our servicemen and women discharge difficult duties with discipline, and independent scrutiny is what distinguishes their service from the conduct of the few.”
He described the Commission’s annual report as candid.
“It records honestly what the Commission set out to do in its founding year, and it states plainly, without complaint and without concealment, the conditions under which that work was done,” Justice Chinamora said.
“Our task is not to weaken institutions but to strengthen them through accountability; not to diminish national security, but to ensure it is pursued within the Constitution.”
ZICC executive secretary Mrs Netsai Chivake said the workshop was meant to review the Commission’s institutional performance and invite informed reflection on its work.
“We are not gathered merely to review activities. We are gathered to test whether our work is making a meaningful difference, to identify gaps and to agree on the improvements required to fulfill our constitutional mandate more effectively,” said Mrs Chivake.
The event was attended by representatives from all the security services cluster and other stakeholders.
Source: Govt commends Complaints Commission’s work ethic – herald
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