The
2023
annual
report
of
the
National
Prosecuting
Authority
[NPA]
was
presented
to
Parliament
in
June.
It
has
been
debated
in
the
National
Assembly
but
is
yet
to
be
debated
in
the
Senate.
The
report
is
available
on
the
Veritas
Website [link].
Major
Points
in
Report
Among
the matters highlighted
in
the
report
were
the
following:
Appointment
of
Prosecutor-General
and
Board
Hon
Loyce
Matanda
Moyo
was
appointed
as
Prosecutor-General
in
October
2023
and
the
National
Prosecuting
Authority
Board
in
late
November.
The
appointments
came
after
the
NPA
operated
for
a
long
period
with
neither
a
substantive
Prosecutor-General
nor
a
Board.
The
Prosecutor-General
is
the
head
of
the
NPA
while
the
Board
employs
prosecutors
and
other
staff
of
the
NPA,
and
oversees
the
overall
administration
of
the
NPA.
Clearly
the
appointments
were
essential
if
the
NPA
is
to
carry
out
its
functions
effectively.
Staffing
difficulties
Brain
drain
and
persistent
staff
and
skills
shortages
plagued
the
NPA.
Skilled
personnel
continually
leave
in
search
of
greener
pastures.
To
fill
120
vacant
posts
the
NPA
managed
to
recruit
only
94
officers,
and
of
the
94
recruited
12
have
since
resigned
so
the
staff
shortages
persist.
There
is
a
critical
shortage
of
skilled
prosecutors.
Office
accommodation
In
line
with
international
best
practice,
prosecutors’
offices
are
being
separated
from
court
buildings.
Norton
and
Chinhoyi
prosecuting
stations
are
now
housed
in
separate
accommodation.
New
prosecuting
stations
Two
new
magistrates
courts
were
opened,
at
Epworth
and
Chikombedzi,
and
the
NPA
has
offices
there [not
specified
if
separate
or
in
same
premises].
Twelve
more
courts
were
gazetted
and
the
NPA
is
working
to
ensure
they
are
staffed
when
they become operational.
ICT
equipment
Superior
Court
prosecutors
and
their
staff
received
information
and
communication
technology
equipment
to
enable
them
to
work
with
the
Integrated
Electronic
Case
Management
System
(IECMS)
which
is
now
operative
in
all
the
superior
courts.
The
NPA
managed
to
install
internet
service
in
six
provinces.
Need
for
Midlands
High
Court
Midlands
Province
needs
a
High
Court
because
of
mounting
cases.
There
are
currently
400
murder
dockets
ready
for
trial.
A
circuit
court
to
Gokwe
would
be
desirable.
Sentencing
guidelines
Gazetting
of
sentencing
guidelines
in
August
2023
was
welcome
because
guidelines
ensure
uniformity
in
sentences
given
by
the
courts.
Public
interaction
The
NPA
increased
its
interaction
with
the
public
through
social
media,
radio
and
television
programmes
in
order
to
increase
transparency
and
win
back
public
confidence.
Important
engagements
and
agreements
-
Zimbabwe’s
assumed
the
two-year
presidency
of
the
Asset
Recovery
Inter-Agency
Network
of
Southern
Africa
(ARINSA)
to
prosecute
and
recover
stolen
assets
and
assets
from
proceeds
from
crime -
MOU
with
the
Basel
Institute
on
Governance -
MOU
with
Transparency
International
Zimbabwe -
MOU
with
Zimbabwe
Environmental
Law
Association.
Statistical
Highlights
-
80.13%
clearance
rate
of
1671
Appeals
&
Constitutional
Matters -
71.8%
clearance
rate
of
505
murder
cases
received. -
61.01%
clearance
rate
of
the
1021
Economic
Crimes
cases -
90.52%
clearance
rate
of
211
International
Cooperation
Unit cases -
84.5%
clearance
of
190
cases
in
the
Set-down,
Statistics
and
Crime
Intelligent
Unit -
100%
completion
rate
of
quarterly
reports
in
all
stations -
93.65%
clearance
rate
of
473
cases
of
sexual
offences,
gender
based
violence,
pre-diversions,
children
in
conflict
with
the
law. -
US$100
million
was
recovered
through
Forfeiture
Orders
and
Preservatory
Orders -
93.33%
clearance
rate
of
the
150
Complaints
received -
99.86%
clearance
of
5 731
Bail
applications -
92.15%
clearance
of
510
Sudden
Death
Dockets -
85.32%
clearance
of
7011
Gender-based
violence
cases -
51.88%
of
16
000
drugs
related
cases
handled -
85.71%
of
7
high
profile
corruption
cases
Commentary
Apart
from
the
Chairperson’s
Executive
Summary
the
report
itself
is
largely
quantitative
and
lacks
qualitative
analysis.
It
simply
reports
the
numbers
of
cases
received,
cases
completed
and
cases
pending.
There
is
no
comparative
analysis
of
statistical
trends
from
previous
reporting
periods.
The
previous
period’s
cases
are
reported
as
being
carried
over
into
the
reporting
year
but
there
is
no
further
information
given
about
their
progress.
The
previous
and
present
cases
are
combined
so
this
does
not
give
a
sufficient
picture
of
the
progress
and
success
or
failure
of
the
prosecution.
The
statistics
are
not
sufficiently
aggregated
or
accompanied
by
explanations
so
it
is
not
possible
to
know
the
reasons
or
possible
causes
for
the
trends
and
variances
between
the
statistics.
The
term
‘clearance
rate’
is
a
blanket
term
which
does
not
give
much
information
about
the
success
or
failure
of
prosecution.
Of
the
cases
indicated
as
cleared
there
is
no
distinction
between
successfully
prosecuted
cases,
acquittals,
withdrawals,
conviction,
cases
taken
on
appeal
and
the
outcome
thereof
in
superior
courts.
For
instance,
of
470
of
the
510
Sudden
Death
dockets
handled
and
40
pending
there
is
no
differentiation
between
prosecutions,
inquests
and
those
the
NPA
decided
not
to
prosecute.
Of
the
150
complaints
received
and
cleared
there
is
no
information
given
about
the
nature
of
the
complaints
and
manner
of
their
resolutions
or
even
where
the
complaints
were
received
and
time
taken
to
resolve
them.
There
is
no
mention
of
how
the
Integrated
Electronic
Case
Management
System
has
been
working
and
how
it
has
been
received
by
NPA
staff
and
the
public
who
interface
with
it.
In
fact
the
IECMS
system
has
brought
many
challenges
to
the
justice
delivery
system,
to
the
extent
that
it
was
invalidated
by
the
Parliamentary
Legal
Committee,
yet
the
courts
continue
to
use
it
regardless.
The
report
should
have
mentioned
the
inevitable
challenges
wrought
by
the
system.
Instead,
it
simply
reports
that
Matabeleland
North,
Mashonaland
East,
Midlands
and
Masvingo
magistrates
courts
need
ICT
equipment
in
order
to
be
IECMS
compliant.
The
NPA
bought
computers
and
vehicles
for
its
staff
to
enhance
their
mobility
and
retain
them,
but
the
report
does
not
say
whether
this
did
indeed
retain
staff
–
apparently
it
did
not,
to
judge
from
the
Commission’s
difficulties
in
filling
vacant
posts,
noted
above.
Conclusion
The
report
portrays
an
Authority
that
is
efficient
and
on
top
of
its
game.
The
statistics
portray
impressive
clearance
rates
of
prosecution
of
crimes
in
all
the
units
of
the
Authority.
The
work
output
and
high
clearance
rates
of
a
combined
average
of
75%
suggest
a
highly
efficient
and
progressive
NPA.
The
report
is
rich
in
statistical
detail
but
seriously
lacking
in
analysis
which
would
have
helped
in
suggesting
measures
to
improve
throughput.
For
example
the
report
should
have
explained
how
case
clearance
rates
could
have
risen
despite
critical
staff
and
skills
shortages.
Veritas
makes
every
effort
to
ensure
reliable
information,
but
cannot
take
legal
responsibility
for
information
supplied.
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