We will not tolerate corrupt prosecutors

Source: We will not tolerate corrupt prosecutors | The Sunday Mail

Justice Matanda-Moyo

ON October 5, 2023, President Mnangagwa appointed JUSTICE LOYCE MATANDA-MOYO as the Prosecutor-General (PG), succeeding Mr Kumbirai Hodzi, who had held the position since 2019. Our Senior Reporter NYORE MADZIANIKE sat down with the PG to discuss her accomplishments over the past year and what to expect going forward.

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Q: When you assumed office, you came up with a new strategy to achieve fresh goals. Please update us on the progress made.

A: The strategy for this year was to ensure that matters move before the courts. The general complaint was that prosecutions were not being done.

Matters were being postponed and people were not getting justice on time. We then came up with a strategy to ensure that matters move before the courts. And the first strategy was to say once matters are set down, they proceed on those days that they are set down.

Postponements were no longer allowed, which means, before setting trials, the prosecutor would go through the docket and ensure it is ready so that come the day of trial, the matter proceeds.

What we didn’t want was a prosecutor coming to court on the date of trial, noticing deficiencies within the dockets and referring the docket back to the police or ZACC (Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission). This created delays.

When we put in those measures, we started seeing a lot of cases moving. This year alone, we have managed to clear a lot of the backlog and I think the general average clearing rate was 80 percent, which is very good.

We also had the Midlands province, which had lots of pending murder cases. In January, there were over 500 pending murder cases, so what we then did was to go through those dockets.

All culpable homicide dockets were referred to regional courts. We remained with 308 murder dockets. We then devised a strategy to clear that backlog.

Q: What strategy did you employ?

A: We saw the first-ever prosecution of 150 murder cases in Midlands. About 150 murder cases were set down, and I am very happy that we managed to clear 137 out of 150, which is quite a huge success.

Also, we have managed to train our prosecutors. We realised that we needed prosecutors who were well-versed in the law and procedures when it came to criminal trials.

I am very happy that our prosecutors have undergone a lot of training, be it in wildlife crime, in court procedures or in the substantive law itself. We have seen judges coming to train our prosecutors.

Our prosecutors are also being trained by people from outside, and even senior prosecutors are training the juniors.

Q: We have seen some prosecutors resigning to go into private practice. Do you have measures in place to ensure that those you would have trained won’t leave the organisation?

A: Right now we do have job satisfaction. We have minimised the number of prosecutors leaving the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe (NPAZ).

Once prosecutors started matching their counterparts in the private sector, they began to enjoy their work. We are continuously engaging the Government to enhance the conditions of service for public prosecutors.

I am happy that the Government is coming on board, and right now, we have a new structure within the NPAZ.

This structure enables prosecutors at least to be promoted to higher ranks than before.

So that way, we are managing to retain the senior public prosecutors.

Because, for example, now we have chief directors within the NPAZ. So, next year, we are hoping to be filling all those posts and the board is also in place.

As you are aware, the NPAZ had run for a long time without a board. But when I was appointed the PG, the first thing that I made sure of was that the board was in place.

Once the board was in place, everything started to move.

Q: With the world now digitising, what are you doing to ensure that prosecutors are also moving with the ever-changing technologies?

A: We are also computerising the NPAZ. We now have e-libraries. We are buying laptops for our prosecutors. And once every prosecutor gets a laptop, that gadget will have an in-built e-library.

Research is now the norm and that has enhanced the quality of prosecutions within the whole country because we are doing that throughout the country.

Where we don’t have internet, we have sourced resources where they can do research offline.

Q: May you shed more light on the new structure you highlighted earlier?

A: Within our structure, we now have four deputy prosecutor-generals. These deputy prosecutor-generals will be planted within the various regions. Within those regions, they will be supervising and ensuring that the strategic plan is implemented in full.

They will also be training our prosecutors and managing those regions. That is a plus; that we are decentralising our services.

We will no longer be centralised in Harare, but we are decentralising all our services. We are also continuously resourcing the NPAZ through the provision of resources for research and we will also be training. Training is key. We are continuously training our prosecutors. We will continue to lobby for better conditions of service so that we deal with corruption within our ranks. Once corruption filters through our ranks, it will disrupt the justice system.

Q: In terms of public engagement, do you have programmes to engage the public on what you do?

A: Yes, we have a corporate affairs department that is involved in engaging the public now and again. They also partner with various other organisations, be they other Government departments, other commissions or NGOs (non-governmental organisations), to go out there and meet members of the public who ask questions and their inquiries are dealt with.

Q: Do you have strategic partnerships with prosecuting authorities in other countries?

A: We are members of the International Association of Prosecutors, the Africa Prosecutors Association . . . We belong to various affiliations of prosecutors’ associations and we exchange information.

That is why our mutual legal assistance is much better now because we do have that engagement amongst the prosecuting authorities throughout the continent and throughout the world.

Q: Most recently, you signed a memorandum of understanding with the Raoul Wellenberg Institute on human rights and humanitarian law. How far does this agreement go towards justice delivery?

A: The memorandum of understanding deals with the training of prosecutors. The institute is mainly interested in human rights during trials.

They will train our prosecutors on the law relating to the rights of the accused person, the rights of the victims, gender-based rights and so forth. When our prosecutors are prosecuting, they are alive to those rights of the various actors within the criminal justice delivery system.

Q: Previously, you have spoken of bringing to book members of the public who try to bribe prosecutors. Do you have any related cases that you are already working on?

A: Yes, we do have about six prosecutors who are before the courts right now throughout the country charged with soliciting and accepting bribes.

We do not tolerate corruption within our ranks. When people come to court, that’s the last line of defence.

That’s where they expect to get justice and once there is no justice within the courts, we will not be able to provide a safe environment because people now tend to want to take the law into their own hands after believing that justice had failed.

Justice must never fail the nation. We do not tolerate bribery and corruption within our ranks. We want justice to prevail at the end of the day.

Q: There is a general perception that some high-profile cases are not properly handled because of some external influences during the prosecuting process. Your response?

A: All cases must receive fair trial before the courts. Everyone should be equal before the courts. There should be no sacred cows before the courts and, therefore, we must be able to prosecute high-profile cases. If you were following the cases that were being prosecuted this year, there have been a lot of high-profile cases and most of them have been convicted.

So, for now, I think we are on the right track.

If you go to the High Court now, there is a courtroom for the Anti-Corruption Court.

This means we have many cases going through the Anti-Corruption Court.

But, of course, everyone should be alive to the fact that every person should be equal before the law. We should not have favourites. Anyone who would have committed a crime should have their day in court.

If there is evidence, they must be convicted. If there is no evidence, they must be acquitted.

But there should be fairness, irrespective of gender, race or whatever portfolio.

Q: With regard to the integrated electronic case management system (IECMS), we have seen some people complaining of delays, especially when going through the vetting process at court. How are you dealing with the delays?

A: I think the Judicial Service Commission is seized with that and they are coming up with solutions because they are the ones who are in charge of the IECMS.

As far as it relates to the public, I have seen that they are coming up with computer labs, where members of the public can go and get assistance in filing their cases.

I don’t think that we still have those complaints because they have been resolved via the establishment of these computer labs.

Q: We have seen the opening of circuit courts in the Midlands province to reduce the cases backlog. Are you going to use the same approach to other provinces?

A: Yes, whenever there is a need, we will use that method to make sure that we reduce our backlog. We don’t want any backlog of criminal cases. We want criminal cases to be prosecuted within a reasonable time; that is, as soon as possible, so that the public have trust in our courts.